The US strongly opposes the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip. The information is from DPA. White House spokeswoman Karin Jean-Pierre said Washington “does not support” the investigations. And specified: “we do not believe that they have jurisdiction.”
Journalists asked Jean-Pierre several times whether the potential issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials could torpedo talks on a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. However, the spokeswoman refused to comment on the topic in more detail.
Israeli media previously reported that Netanyahu fears that ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan may this week issue international arrest warrants for him, Defense Minister Yoav Galant and Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi, BTA adds.
Since 2021, the court in The Hague, Netherlands, has been investigating the Israel Defense Forces and the Palestinian organization Hamas for alleged war crimes in the Palestinian territories – the Gaza Strip, the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
In 2021, the court ruled that it had jurisdiction over the Palestinian territories occupied after 1967 – the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. However, neither the US nor Israel recognize the court, DPA notes.
An investigation is also underway into acts of violence committed by Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
An arrest warrant for Netanyahu and other Israeli nationals issued by the ICC would mean that states that have signed the court’s statute would be obliged to arrest those individuals and transfer them to The Hague – provided they are on their territory .
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