US rejects ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu, Gallant - White House
Agency
22/11/2024
The White House rejected the International Criminal Court's (ICC) decision to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoavi Gallant. - Reuters file photo
WASHINGTON: The White House rejected the International Criminal Court's (ICC) decision to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoavi Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
"The United States (US) basically rejected the court's (ICC) decision to issue an arrest warrant for a senior Israeli official. We remain deeply concerned by the public prosecutor's haste to obtain an arrest warrant and the procedural errors that led to this decision," said a spokesman for the US National Security Council, international media reported.
"The United States is very clear that the ICC has no jurisdiction over this matter. In coordination with our partners including Israel, we are discussing next steps."
The Hague-based court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant on Thursday for alleged "crimes against humanity and war" committed from at least October 8, 2023 to at least May 20, 2024," ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan said.
In doing so, it also unanimously rejected Israel's challenge to jurisdiction under articles 18 and 19 of the Rome Statute.
The ICC "found reasonable grounds" to believe Netanyahu and Gallant "bear criminal responsibility" for "the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and crimes against humanity of murder, torture, and other inhumane acts."
The warrant was issued as Israel's genocidal offensive in Gaza recently entered its second year, having killed an estimated 44,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
Israel's offensive has left almost the entire population of the region homeless amid persistent and deliberate blockades that have caused severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine, pushing residents to the brink of starvation. - Agency
