American President Joe Biden on Monday castigated the arrest warrant requested by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israeli leaders, saying that no “equivalence” was possible between Israel and Hamas. The prosecutor’s request is “scandalous”, he said in a press release.
“We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security”
“I will be clear: whatever the prosecutor insinuates, there is no equivalence between Israel and Hamas, there is none,” he added. “We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.” His head of diplomacy, Antony Blinken, described the ICC prosecutor’s announcement as “shameful”, also considering that it “could compromise” the talks on the ceasefire in Gaza. “We reject the equivalence established by the prosecutor between Israel and Hamas. It is a shame,” Antony Blinken insisted in a press release.
“Hamas is a violent terrorist organization that carried out the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust and is still holding dozens of innocent people hostage, including Americans,” he added. Furthermore, the ICC has “no jurisdiction” over Israel, he said.
In the eighth month of the war in the Gaza Strip, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on Monday requested arrest warrants against the Israeli prime minister and his defense minister as well as three Hamas leaders for crimes against humanity presumed. Karim Khan said he had requested warrants against Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant for crimes including “deliberate starvation of civilians,” “intentional homicide” and “extermination and/or murder.”
Charges against Hamas leaders, including its Gaza leader Yahya Sinouar, include “extermination,” “rape and other forms of sexual violence” and “hostage-taking as a war crime.” .