USA disturbed by demand for Netanyahu's arrest warrant.
The head of the International Criminal Court (ICC) accuses both Hamas and Israel of committing war crimes. US President Biden is furious, while Secretary of State Blinken attacks the investigation's credibility. The German Foreign Ministry takes a more cautious approach.
US President Joe Biden finds the actions of the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) towards Israel beyond belief. Israel and Hamas must not be treated equally, Biden argues. Israel will always have US support in the face of security threats, he maintains. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken echoes this stance. The fact that requests for warrants have been made against both senior Israeli officials and Hamas terrorists is "embarrassing".
"We oppose the court's equating Israel with Hamas," Blinken declared. "Hamas is a dreadful terrorist group that carried out one of the gravest atrocities against Jews since the Holocaust and still holds hostages, including Americans," he continued. Blinken made it clear that Washington believes that the court, which the US does not recognize, has no jurisdiction in this matter. Although Israel is not an ICC member, it's willing to collaborate with the prosecution, Blinken said. However, "suspicious procedural issues" cast doubt on the legitimacy and reliability of the investigation, he added, possibly endangering ongoing efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement.
ICC's Chief Prosecutor, Karim Khan, previously requested arrest warrants for alleged crimes against humanity against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Joav Galant. Arrest warrants were also sought for the Hamas leader in Gaza, his deputy, and the Hamas head abroad.
German Foreign Office criticizes misleading impression of equivalence
Germany voiced its disapproval of the parallel application for a warrant for the Hamas leader and Israel's Prime Minister and Defense Minister, but avoided attacking the ICC in general. "The concurrent application for warrants against the Hamas leaders on one hand and the two Israeli officials on the other has given a false impression of equality," the Foreign Ministry said.
"The Hamas leaders are responsible for a brutal massacre in which men, women, and children were murdered, raped, and abducted in Israel on October 7th," the ministry detailed. Moreover, hostages are being held captive, Israel is being bombarded with rockets, and the population in Gaza is being exploited as human shields. The Israeli government has a responsibility to defend its citizens from this. "It's evident that international humanitarian law and all its obligations apply," it concludes.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vehemently rejects the request for an international arrest warrant. "I abhor the comparison made by the prosecutor in The Hague between democratic Israel and Hamas mass murderers," he said. "With what brazenness do you compare Hamas, which has murdered, burned, slaughtered, beheaded, raped, and kidnapped our relatives and friends, and the soldiers who are defending a just war?" https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-decries-iccs-hamas-israel-war-crimes-probe-2021-05-18/
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- Despite the International Criminal Court's accusations of war crimes against both Hamas and Israel, US President Joe Biden strongly opposes the court's equating of Israel with Hamas.
- Following the request for arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leaders by the ICC's Chief Prosecutor, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu vehemently rejects the comparison, calling it brazen.
- The situation in the Gaza Strip, filled with ongoing conflicts between Israel and Hamas, has led to the International Criminal Court investigating potential war crimes committed by both parties.
Source: www.ntv.de
