U.S. President Joe Biden reacted harshly to the possibility of the International Criminal Court arresting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that the U.S. government's support for Israel's security is steadfast.
This was reported by Reuters.
Thus, the Head of State said at an event at the White House dedicated to Jewish American Heritage Month that the United States Government does not consider the events in Gaza to be genocide.
"We stand with Israel to take out (Hamas leader Yahya) Sinwar and the rest of the butchers of Hamas. We want Hamas defeated. We're working with Israel to make that happen," Biden said.
It is worth noting that the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, adopted at a diplomatic conference in Rome on July 17, 1998, and entered into force on July 1, 2002, has not yet been ratified by either the United States or Israel. In total, 137 states have signed it, while only 124 have ratified it.
On October 7 last year, Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, shooting people and taking hostages. More than 1,000 victims were reported, and hundreds of people were taken hostages. After that, the Israeli authorities decided to conduct a ground operation in the Gaza Strip.
On May 20, it became known that the ICC prosecutor demanded the issuance of arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leaders. Israeli officials, in particular, were accused of using starvation as a method of warfare.
The US Congress is considering imposing sanctions against the International Criminal Court if it issues an arrest warrant for Netanyahu. It is worth noting that the United States and Israel are not members of the ICC.
Earlier, Apostrophe reported that on March 17, 2023, the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin, who heads the criminal regime in Russia.