The Pentagon mentioned it rejects the Worldwide Felony Court docket’s (ICC) determination to situation arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Protection Minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday.
Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh informed reporters throughout a press briefing on Thursday that the U.S. “essentially rejects” the ICC’s determination to situation the arrest warrants.
“We stay involved by the prosecutor’s rush to hunt arrest warrants, and, you recognize, among the processes which have performed out,” Singh mentioned. “And once more, we’ve been very clear that the ICC doesn’t have jurisdiction over this matter.”
The ICC charged Netanyahu and Gallant with “crimes in opposition to humanity and conflict crimes,” together with using hunger as a way of warfare and focusing on civilians.
ISRAELI OFFICIAL PRAISES STEFANIK AS UN PICK, SAYS HER ‘MORAL CLARITY’ WILL COMBAT BODY’S ‘HATE AND LIES’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, middle, speaks to now former Protection Minister Yoav Gallant, left, on the opening of the twenty fifth Knesset session marking the anniversary of the “Iron Swords” conflict, in Jerusalem, Oct. 28. (Debbie Hill/Pool Photograph by way of AP)
President Biden blasted the court docket’s determination to situation arrest warrants in opposition to the 2 senior Israeli officers.
“The ICC issuance of arrest warrants in opposition to Israeli leaders is outrageous,” Biden mentioned. “Let me be clear as soon as once more: regardless of the ICC would possibly suggest, there is no such thing as a equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas. We are going to all the time stand with Israel in opposition to threats to its safety.”
Israeli President Isaac Herzog condemned the court docket’s actions in an announcement on Thursday.
ICC REJECTS ISRAELI APPEALS, ISSUES ARREST WARRANTS FOR BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, YOAV GALLANT
Folks survey a constructing destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, within the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Nov. 14. (AP Photograph/Hussein Malla)
“Taken in unhealthy religion, the outrageous determination on the ICC has turned common justice right into a common laughingstock,” Herzog wrote. “It makes a mockery of the sacrifice of all those that struggle for justice – from the Allied victory over the Nazis until in the present day.”
Herzog argued that the ICC’s determination ignores Hamas’ use of human shields and its Oct. 7, 2023, terror assaults that began the conflict, in addition to the Israeli hostages remaining in Gaza.
Israel made a number of efforts to dam the ICC from approving the arrest warrants. They first argued that the ICC has no jurisdiction over Israel, however the court docket mentioned it might situation the arrest warrants as a part of the “territorial jurisdiction of Palestine.”
‘CHEERLEADING FOR TERRORISM’: TWITCH STAR CALLED FOR NEW 9/11, DISMISSED HORROR OF OCT 7
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 79th session of the United Nations Normal Meeting, in New York Metropolis, Sept. 27. (AP Photograph/Pamela Smith)
Israel additionally made different procedural challenges, however they have been rejected.
The ICC’s transfer comes simply days after Senate Majority Chief-elect John Thune threatened to hit the court docket with sanctions if it moved ahead with the arrest warrants.
The U.S. doesn’t formally acknowledge the ICC’s authority, however it’s not the primary time Washington has regarded to halt the court docket’s actions.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
In 2020, the Trump administration opposed makes an attempt by the ICC to research U.S. troopers and the CIA concerned in alleged conflict crimes between 2003-2004 “in secret detention amenities in Afghanistan,” and issued sanctions in opposition to ICC prosecutors.
Biden’s administration undid these sanctions shortly after coming into workplace.
Fox Information Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.