US President Joe Biden has defended Israel against accusations of war crimes from the world’s leading judicial bodies.
Biden’s remarks came in response to Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), who announced his intention to seek arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes in Gaza. “We reject the ICC’s arrest warrants for Israeli leaders,” Biden declared at a Jewish American Heritage Month event at the White House on Monday, coinciding with Khan’s announcement. The warrants also target Hamas leaders for similar allegations.
“There is no equivalence between Israel and Hamas,” Biden emphasized. Earlier, he had issued a statement calling the ICC’s actions “outrageous.”
Israel is also under scrutiny for alleged genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), a case brought by South Africa.
Biden disputed these genocide allegations. “The ICJ’s claims of genocide in Gaza are baseless. We reject them,” he asserted. In January, the ICJ had ruled there was a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza and ordered Israel to take preventive measures. While Biden’s defense of Israel was well-received at the event, his campaign has faced pro-Palestinian protests across the US, with some critics dubbing him “Genocide Joe.”
The ICC prosecutor outlined specific charges against Netanyahu and Gallant, including “starvation of civilians” and “extermination,” though the investigation is ongoing.
Khan also applied for arrest warrants for three Hamas leaders – Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri (Deif), and Ismail Haniyeh – for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including extermination, murder, hostage-taking, torture, and sexual violence.
These charges are supported by evidence from a panel of experts, including international human rights lawyer Amal Clooney.
Clooney stated, “No conflict should be beyond the reach of the law, nor any perpetrator above the law.” Some US Republican lawmakers criticized the ICC’s actions on Monday.
Senator Tom Cotton declared, “My colleagues and I will ensure neither Khan, his associates, nor their families set foot in the United States again.” The ICC, as the first permanent international war crimes court, requires its 124 member states to arrest wanted individuals if they enter a member state’s territory.
The US is not an ICC member and may use its influence to pressure European allies, who are ICC signatories, to ignore the warrants, reported Al Jazeera’s Heidi Zhou-Castro from Washington, DC. Israel, China, and Russia are also not ICC members.
Reactions to the ICC’s plan have varied internationally.
Switzerland’s UN envoy Pascale Baeriswyl, speaking at the UN Security Council, affirmed, “Switzerland fully supports the court and stresses the importance of its independence.”
The ICC’s decision to issue arrest warrants, similar to its previous warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin in March 2023 for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, marks its first intervention in the Middle Eastern conflict.
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