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Global reactions are split on Tuesday following ICC prosecutor Karim Khan's decision to seek arrest warrants for senior Israeli and Hamas leadership.
The request for arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and three Hamas leaders - Ismail Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif - for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Gaza, formulated by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, is provoking contradictory reactions at international level.
On Tuesday, Yoav Gallant described Karim Khan's approach as "despicable and despicable". "ICC prosecutor Karim Khan's attempt to turn the tables will not succeed," he said in a statement. The parallel he has drawn between the terrorist organization Hamas and the State of Israel is despicable and ignoble." "Attorney Karim Khan's attempt to deny the State of Israel the right to defend itself and secure the release of hostages held in Gaza must be explicitly rejected," continued Gallant.
Senior Israeli officials, including President Isaac Herzog, also criticized the ICC prosecutor's approach.
Italy's head of diplomacy, Antonio Tajani, said it was "absolutely unacceptable to put Hamas and Israel on the same level". "It's absurd that the prosecutor should have drawn this parallel. There is no way we can imagine such a comparison. We must be careful not to legitimize anti-Israeli positions that could fuel anti-Semitism," he added in an interview with Corriere della Sera.
France's Minister of Social Affairs, Stéphane Séjournée, echoed this view, saying that the simultaneous requests for arrest warrants "must not create an equivalence between Hamas and Israel". In this respect, he referred to "a terrorist group which welcomed the attacks of October 7, which also claimed responsibility for them in an assertive manner", and to "a democratic state, Israel, which must respect international law in the conduct of a war that it did not start itself".
"The ICC judges must now rule on the issuance of these warrants. They will do so independently and in complete independence", added the head of French diplomacy before the National Assembly. Mr. Séjourné also reiterated France's principle of solidarity "with the Israelis and Palestinians" in the search for a political solution. "This is the only possible horizon for peace, and we are working diplomatically to this end", he concluded.
This contradicts the statement issued earlier in the morning by the Quai D'Orsay, which said it "supports the International Criminal Court, its independence and the fight against impunity in all situations". "On October 7, France condemned the anti-Semitic massacres perpetrated by Hamas," reads a statement.
With regard to Israel, "France has been warning for many months of the need for strict compliance with international humanitarian law, and in particular of the unacceptable nature of civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip and inadequate humanitarian access", continued French diplomacy. It reiterated that a "lasting political solution" is the "only" way to "re-establish a horizon of peace".
For US diplomatic chief Anthony Blinken, the ICC prosecutor's decision "complicates" the "still possible" efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza.
"I think we've been very, very close twice," he said at a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, praising the "tremendous efforts" of Egyptian and Qatari mediators. "We're working on it every day. I think there is still a possibility," he added. "But it is being called into question by a number of events, and I have to say that the extremely ill-advised decision" taken by Karim Khan, "the shameful equivalence between Hamas and the leaders of Israel" only "complicates the prospects of concluding such an agreement", he asserted.
Among those supporting the move, China expressed the hope that the ICC would "maintain its objective and impartial stance and exercise its powers in accordance with the law". Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin also called for an end to the "collective punishment of the Palestinian people".
With AFP
The request for arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and three Hamas leaders - Ismail Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif - for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Gaza, formulated by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, is provoking contradictory reactions at international level.
On Tuesday, Yoav Gallant described Karim Khan's approach as "despicable and despicable". "ICC prosecutor Karim Khan's attempt to turn the tables will not succeed," he said in a statement. The parallel he has drawn between the terrorist organization Hamas and the State of Israel is despicable and ignoble." "Attorney Karim Khan's attempt to deny the State of Israel the right to defend itself and secure the release of hostages held in Gaza must be explicitly rejected," continued Gallant.
Senior Israeli officials, including President Isaac Herzog, also criticized the ICC prosecutor's approach.
Italy's head of diplomacy, Antonio Tajani, said it was "absolutely unacceptable to put Hamas and Israel on the same level". "It's absurd that the prosecutor should have drawn this parallel. There is no way we can imagine such a comparison. We must be careful not to legitimize anti-Israeli positions that could fuel anti-Semitism," he added in an interview with Corriere della Sera.
Political solution
France's Minister of Social Affairs, Stéphane Séjournée, echoed this view, saying that the simultaneous requests for arrest warrants "must not create an equivalence between Hamas and Israel". In this respect, he referred to "a terrorist group which welcomed the attacks of October 7, which also claimed responsibility for them in an assertive manner", and to "a democratic state, Israel, which must respect international law in the conduct of a war that it did not start itself".
"The ICC judges must now rule on the issuance of these warrants. They will do so independently and in complete independence", added the head of French diplomacy before the National Assembly. Mr. Séjourné also reiterated France's principle of solidarity "with the Israelis and Palestinians" in the search for a political solution. "This is the only possible horizon for peace, and we are working diplomatically to this end", he concluded.
This contradicts the statement issued earlier in the morning by the Quai D'Orsay, which said it "supports the International Criminal Court, its independence and the fight against impunity in all situations". "On October 7, France condemned the anti-Semitic massacres perpetrated by Hamas," reads a statement.
With regard to Israel, "France has been warning for many months of the need for strict compliance with international humanitarian law, and in particular of the unacceptable nature of civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip and inadequate humanitarian access", continued French diplomacy. It reiterated that a "lasting political solution" is the "only" way to "re-establish a horizon of peace".
'Collective punishment'
For US diplomatic chief Anthony Blinken, the ICC prosecutor's decision "complicates" the "still possible" efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza.
"I think we've been very, very close twice," he said at a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, praising the "tremendous efforts" of Egyptian and Qatari mediators. "We're working on it every day. I think there is still a possibility," he added. "But it is being called into question by a number of events, and I have to say that the extremely ill-advised decision" taken by Karim Khan, "the shameful equivalence between Hamas and the leaders of Israel" only "complicates the prospects of concluding such an agreement", he asserted.
Among those supporting the move, China expressed the hope that the ICC would "maintain its objective and impartial stance and exercise its powers in accordance with the law". Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin also called for an end to the "collective punishment of the Palestinian people".
With AFP
This Is Beirut
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