US president Joe Biden has called the International Criminal Court's request for arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other leaders "outrageous".
“The ICC prosecutor’s application for arrest warrants against Israeli leaders is outrageous,” Mr Biden said in the statement.
“And let me be clear: whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas. We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.”
ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan said that he believes Mr Netanyahu; his defence minister, Yoav Gallant; and three Hamas leaders: Yehya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh; are responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip and Israel.
Speaking of the Israeli actions, Mr Khan said in a statement that “the effects of the use of starvation as a method of warfare, together with other attacks and collective punishment against the civilian population of Gaza are acute, visible and widely known".
He added: “They include malnutrition, dehydration, profound suffering and an increasing number of deaths among the Palestinian population, including babies, other children, and women.”
Of the Hamas actions on October 7th, he said that he saw for himself “the devastating scenes of these attacks and the profound impact of the unconscionable crimes charged in the applications filed today.
“Speaking with survivors, I heard how the love within a family, the deepest bonds between a parent and a child, were contorted to inflict unfathomable pain through calculated cruelty and extreme callousness. These acts demand accountability.”
Israel’s foreign minister said the court’s decision to seek arrest warrants against Israeli leaders is “a historic disgrace that will be remembered forever”.
Israel Katz said he would form a special committee to fight back against any such action and would work with world leaders to ensure that any such warrants are not enforced.
Mr Khan must request the warrants from a pre-trial panel of three judges, who take two months on average to consider the evidence and determine if the proceedings can move forward.
Israel is not a member of the court, and even if the arrest warrants are issued, Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant do not face any immediate risk of prosecution. - Additional reporting from Associated Press
