Washington: International Criminal Court has no authority to investigate Israel
(Baonghean.vn) - The US State Department said the Hague-based court should not prosecute West Jerusalem for the war in Gaza.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has no jurisdiction over Israeli officials, US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters on Tuesday, as the war in Gaza nears its seventh month, RT reported.
Mr Patel's comments came after reports that a Hague-based court could issue arrest warrants for Israeli leaders over the conduct of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in Gaza.
Bloomberg News reported Monday that G7 countries have privately told the ICC that Israel could back out of a potential ceasefire if investigators directly target its officials.
Patel told reporters that while the United States does not recognize the ICC's jurisdiction over its citizens, it still cooperates with the court on some issues.
“We work closely with the ICC on a number of key areas. We think they are doing important work as it relates to Ukraine, Darfur, Sudan. But again, in this particular case, I’m sorry, they don’t have jurisdiction,” he said.
According to the Times of Israel, officials in West Jerusalem are concerned that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi could be targets of the ICC.
In a video posted on April 30, Mr. Netanyahu criticized the potential arrest warrants as “a historic insult.”
“Designating Israeli leaders and soldiers as war criminals will add fuel to the fire of anti-Semitism,” he said, adding that Israel does not recognize the court’s authority.
He accused the ICC of trying to “cripple Israel’s ability to defend itself.” Like the United States, Israel is not a member of the ICC.
In his speech, Mr Netanyahu reiterated that the Israeli military would not stop until the Palestinian militant group Hamas was neutralized and “that Gaza would never again pose a threat to Israel”.
In January, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), another judicial body, ruled that the IDF's actions in Gaza may amount to genocide. The court is considering a case brought by South Africa against Israel, and a decision on the merits could take years.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog has condemned the ICJ's decision to initiate proceedings against his country as “cruel and unjustified”.
The current round of fighting between Israel and Hamas broke out on October 7, 2023, when Hamas forces attacked Israeli territory, killing more than 1,100 people and kidnapping more than 250.
According to local authorities, more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in Israeli air strikes and ground attacks.
The United Nations has repeatedly sounded the alarm about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, where people are suffering from hunger and shortages of supplies, in addition to the horrors of war.
