ICC asks Netanyahu to be arrested, Joe Biden: Israel did not commit genocide in Gaza!
US President Joe Biden. (Photo: Reuters)
WASHINGTON DC, - US President Joe Biden also reacted to the request for the arrest of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu by the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor. He said, even though the ICC prosecutor submitted the arrest warrant, Israel did not commit genocide in Gaza.
“Israel must do everything it can to ensure the protection of civilians, but let me be clear, contrary to the accusations against Israel made by the International Criminal Court, what happened was not genocide, we reject that,” Biden said at the conferencepress on Monday (20/5/2024) US time.
Earlier this week, ICC prosecutors had requested arrest warrants against five people on charges of war crimes in the Gaza Strip as well as crimes against humanity. The five people are Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant as well as; the leaders of Hamas, namely Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed al-Masri; and Ismail Haniyeh.
The announcement drew strong protests from Palestinians. Member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Wasel Abu Youssef, said that the ICC's decision caused confusion because it could not differentiate between victims and executioners (slaughterers).
“The Palestinian people have the right to defend themselves. "The ICC is obliged to issue arrest warrants against Israeli officials who continue to commit crimes of genocide in the Gaza Strip," said Abu Youssef, Monday (20/5/2024).
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri also expressed a similar protest. He said that requesting arrest warrants for three Hamas figures meant the same as the ICC prosecutor comparing the victim to the executioner who massacred the victim. To Reuters, Abu Zuhri also said that the ICC's decision actually gave encouragement to Israel to continue its war of "extermination" aka genocide in Gaza.
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