US President Joe Biden has condemned the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) prosecutor for seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
The ICC accuses them of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Biden called the application “outrageous” and reaffirmed US support for Israel’s security. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that the move could harm ceasefire efforts in the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The ICC prosecutor, Karim Khan, also seeks warrants for three top Hamas leaders. Netanyahu and Israel’s government have rejected the ICC’s jurisdiction and the comparison between Israel and Hamas. The US and Israel are not ICC members and have previously rejected its authority.
The conflict in Gaza began after Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, which killed over 1,170 people, mostly civilians. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 35,562 people in Gaza, mostly civilians.
The US recently withheld arms shipments to Israel due to concerns over its conduct in the war. Despite this, Biden and Blinken have expressed strong support for Israel in the face of the ICC’s actions.