Israel fears ICC preparing to issue arrest warrants against Netanyahu

Israeli officials believe that the International Criminal Court is preparing to issue arrest warrants for senior government officials on charges related to the ongoing war with Hamas The New York Times reported citing five Israeli and foreign officialsThe Israeli officials believe that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus name will be included in a warrant the report said Further the Israeli and foreign officials believe the court is considering issuing arrest warrants for leaders from Hamas It is not clear who might be charged by Hamas or what crimes would be mentionedIf the court proceeds the Israeli officials could potentially be accused of preventing the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip after a harsh response to the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 according to two of the five officials all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matterThe Israeli officials did not reveal the nature of the information that sparked concerns about potential ICC action and the court did not make a statement on the matter The New York Times reportedICCs arrest warrants would probably be considered a humbling moral rebuke particularly to Israel as the nation has faced backlash over its military action in Gaza including from US President Joe Biden who described it over the topThe arrest warrants could impact Israels policies as the country continues to conduct its counteroffensive against Hamas The Israeli and foreign officials said they did not know about the stage of the processAny warrants would need approval from a panel of judges and would not necessarily lead to a trial or even the targets immediate arrest ICCs chief prosecutor Karim Khan has previously said that his team is carrying out investigation into incidents during the war The New York Times reportedEarlier on April 26 Netanyahu said that any intervention by the ICC would set a dangerous precedent that threatens the soldiers and officials of all democracies fighting savage terrorism and wanton aggression The New York Times reported Although he did not mention what prompted his statementNetanyahu further said Under my leadership Israel will never accept any attempt by the ICC to undermine its inherent right of selfdefense The threat to seize the soldiers and officials of the Middle Easts only democracy and the worlds only Jewish state is outrageous We will not bow to itMeanwhile the US administration does not support the International Criminal Courts investigation into Israels actions in Gaza White House Press Secretary Karine JeanPierre said in a press briefing on MondayAsked whether the issue of ICCs potential warrants was discussed during talks between Israeli PM Netanyahu and US President Biden JeanPierre said I dont have anything to read out beyond the readout I dont have anything to lay out there Obviously and I said this moments ago what was significantly discussed the primary focus of that call was obviously that hostage deal getting to a ceasefire getting humanitarian aid into Gaza That was incredibly important And obviously our continued support for Israels security That continues to be ironclad obviously that weve shown thatBut we need to get to that hostage deal We need to get the hostages home We need to get to a ceasefire and that was the primary conversation And obviously the Rafah operations was discussed as well We just dont believe its in the ICC jurisdiction in this situation We do not support the investigation and I think that kind of answers that question When we say we do not support this and we do not believe its in their jurisdiction ICCs jurisdiction she saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever