It was reported that the International Criminal Court (ICC) is set to seek arrest warrants on Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu on war crime and crimes against humanity melted on Gaza’s people in response to the October 7 attack on the country.
The Court’s Chief Prosecutor, Karim Khan told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in an exclusive interview on Monday, adding that the Hamas leader, will be arrested too on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the October 7 attacks on Israel.
While reacting to this on X, the Israeli President, Isaac Herzog said this announcement of ICC prosecutor is beyond outrageous, and shows the extent to which the international judicial system is in danger of collapsing.
Herzog added that taken in bad faith, this one-sided move represents a unilateral political step that emboldens terrorists around the world, and violates all the basic rules of the court according to the principle of complementarity and other legal norms.
According to him, “the Hamas’ leaders are oppressive dictators guilty of launching mass murder, mass rape, mass kidnappings of men, women, children and babies”.
He said, “Any attempt to draw parallels between these atrocious terrorists and a democratically elected government of Israel – working to fulfill its duty to defend, protect its citizens entirely in adherence to principles of international law is outrageous and cannot be excepted by anyone.
The President stated that Israel will not forget who started this war, and who raped, butchered, burned, brutalized, and kidnapped innocent citizens and families.
“We will not forget our hostages whose safe return should be the main concern of the international community. We expect leaders in the free world to condemn outright this step and firmly reject it”, Israel’s Isaac Herzog concluded.
Former Israeli Prime Minister, said on X that the Prosecutor’s request is a moment of shame for the International Court and the world community, saying this also provides a huge boost to global Jihadi terror.
He said, “An ICC that compares the executor of deliberate murderous attack that included raping women, burning babies, with those who are defending themselves against it, is better off not existing. It’s time for the decent nations to defund the ICC”.
In his reaction on X, the Israel’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Israel Katz described this decision by the Prosecutor of International Criminal Court as “outrageous” in the Hague, adding that it’s unrestrained frontal assault on the victims of October 7th and the 128 hostages in Gaza.
He said, “While Hamas murderers and rapists commit crimes against humanity against our brothers and sisters, the Prosecutor mention in the same breath the Prime Minister and Defense Minister of Israel alongside the vile Nazi-like monsters of Hamas a historical disgrace that will be remembered forever.
The Minister said he has instructed immediate establishment of a special command center at the Foreign Ministry, with all professional entities, aimed at fighting against the decision intended primarily to shackle Israel’s hands and prevent it from exercising its right to self-defense.
Katz who intended to speak with other Foreign Ministers of leading countries around the world, urged them to oppose the Prosecutor’s decision and declare that even if warrants are issued, they do not intend to enforce them against Israeli leaders.
The Foreign Minister said boldly that no power in the world will prevent the Israel from bringing back all its hostages and toppling the Hamas terror regime.
John Bolton, ex-aide to United States President on National Security said on X that ICC has proven its fundamental illegitimacy by seeking arrest warrants against Israeli officials in the middle of a war.
Bolton further said, “To aid our ally Israel, the U.S. should take steps both in Congress and in the White House to condemn the ICC and impose sanctions, as I have previously suggested”.
US Senator Lindsay Graham reacted on X saying this outrageous decision is truly a slap in the face to the independent judiciary in Israel, which is renowned for their independence.
The Senator added, “We must not forget as a nation the International Criminal Court threatened to bring action against American forces in Afghanistan and we are a non- member”.
He made it known that he will issuing a detailed statement regarding the outrageous actions by the ICC against the State of Israel and vowed to work with colleagues on both sides of the aisle in both chambers to levy damning sanctions against the International Court.
Graham revealed that both him and other colleagues have engaged the ICC before this decision and they promised to confront the State of Isreal before making any decision.
According to him, “Most importantly, I want the world to know that I, with my Republican and Democrat colleagues, and members of the Administration engaged the ICC on this issue weeks ago.
“We were told there would be discussions with Israel before any actions were taken. We stressed the principle of complementarity should be applied which requires the ICC to let the nation in question’s the legal system move first before any action is taken by the Court.
“Prosecutor Khan’s team was supposed to be in Israel today to arrange a meeting for next week with the prosecutor’s office about the allegations.
“I was told by ICC staff that the investigation would likely take months and not weeks, and that there would be meaningful consultation with the State of Israel. Instead of the ICC following with scheduled consultations with Israel, they announced the warrants.
“I feel that I was lied to and that my colleagues were lied to. Prosecutor Khan is drunk with self-importance and has done a lot of damage to the peace process and to the ability to find a way forward”, the Senator said.
Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza to destroy Hamas in response to the group’s cross-border attack on southern Israel on 7 October, during which about 1200 people were killed and 252 others were taken hostage.
Meanwhile report has it that more than 35,090 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
