mention the place”AxiosThe Israeli government has warned the administration of US President Joe Biden that if the International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants against Israeli leaders, it will consider the Palestinian Authority responsible and take retaliatory measures against it that could to disintegrate, according to what Israel and American officials said.
The website explained that among the measures that Israel could take in retaliation is freezing the transfer of tax revenues collected by the Israeli government to the benefit of the Palestinian Authority. Without these funds, the Palestinian Authority would be bankrupt.
The International Criminal Court, which can prosecute individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, is investigating the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and Israel’s devastating military campaign in The Gaza conflict, which is run by Hamas, is now in its seventh month.
Netanyahu is in the crosshairs of the International Criminal Court.. The consequences within Israel
Israel is in a state of “confusion,” according to the Haaretz newspaper, due to the possibility that its Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, its Defense Minister, Yoav Galant, as well as the Chief of Staff of the Army , Herzi Halevy, resisted arrest. warrant from the International Criminal Court, on charges of committing war crimes in Gaza.
A senior Israeli official told Axios that the threat of arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court is real, and stressed that if such a situation were to occur, the Israeli government would likely make a formal decision to punish Authority Palestine, which could disintegrate. .
Two US officials said Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a phone call that the report, broadcast by Israel’s Channel 12, indicated that the United States may have given the “green light” to to the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants against him. Israel’s leaders are wrong.
Biden confirmed during the call that the United States opposes the investigation of the International Criminal Court against Israel.
Two US officials told the website that the Biden administration had privately told ICC officials that it would be a mistake to issue arrest warrants against Israeli leaders and that the United States does not support such actions. of activity.
A US official said: “We are quietly encouraging the ICC not to do this, because this will blow things up, and Israel will retaliate against the Palestinian Authority.”
The official said that although the ICC prosecutor is under pressure to issue these arrest warrants, the Biden administration does not believe that this step is as close as the Israelis believe.
Netanyahu said that if the International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for government officials on charges related to the conduct of Israel’s war against Hamas, it would be a “historic scandal.”
Israeli officials have expressed concern in recent days that the International Criminal Court will issue arrest warrants for senior government officials, in what could be “the worst international legal action taken against Israel” since the Gaza war began in October.
The International Criminal Court can charge individuals with war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, and is currently investigating the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas and the Israel’s devastating military campaign in the Gaza Strip run by Hamas, which ranks seventh. month.
Israel says the Hamas attack killed around 1,200 people, while the Gaza Health Ministry reported that more than 34,500 Gazans were killed in the Israeli military campaign, with most of the 2.3 million residents displaced and large areas of the Strip destroyed.
United Nations agencies and human rights groups accuse Israel of violating international humanitarian law while operating in Gaza, which Israel denies.
Israel is not a member of the International Criminal Court and does not recognize its jurisdiction, but the Palestinian territories were accepted as a member state in 2015.
The court’s prosecutor, Karim Khan, said in October that the court has jurisdiction to investigate any war crimes that may have been committed by Hamas militants in Israel and Israeli forces in the conflict. Gaza.
Netanyahu said any arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court would not affect Israel’s procedures, adding that it would be the first time the court would accuse a democratic country of committing war crimes.
He said, “I want to make one thing clear: No decision, at The Hague or anywhere else, will affect our determination to achieve all of the war’s objectives: everyone -the release of hostages, a complete victory over Hamas, and the promise that Gaza will no longer be a threat to Israel.”
Sources told Reuters that prosecutors from the International Criminal Court interviewed staff at Gaza’s two largest hospitals, in the first confirmation that investigators from the court had interviewed staff treatment of possible crimes in Gaza.
One source said that the events that took place near the two hospitals could be part of the investigation carried out by the court.
#Israel #tells #Biden #administration #international #legal #action #issued
2024-05-02 14:43:32
