France supports ICC decision to seek arrest warrant for Israeli prime minister and Hamas leaders
From CNN’s Xiaofei Xu
France broke away from its Western allies and expressed support for the International Criminal Court (ICC) after the court announced its decision to seek an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar.
“Regarding Israel, it will be up to the court's Pre-Trial Chamber to decide whether to issue these warrants, after examining the evidence put forward by the Prosecutor to support his accusations,” the French foreign ministry said in a statement issued late Monday.
It added: “France supports the International Criminal Court, its independence, and the fight against impunity in all situations.”
Paris also said it has been warning “for many months” the need for strict compliance with international humanitarian laws and “in particular of the unacceptable level of civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip and the lack of humanitarian access,” the statement said.
The statement marks a major split between France's position and that of its Western allies, notably the United States, where President Joe Biden called the decision “outrageous.”
France has been one of the few Western countries willing to take a tougher stance on Israel, including criticizing America’s decision to veto ceasefire resolutions in the UN Security Council early on and calling for an immediate ceasefire.
US blasts request by international court for arrest warrants for top Israeli officials. Here's the latest
From CNN staff
US President Joe Biden on Monday rejected theInternational Criminal Court's arrest warrant requestsfor Israeli leaders amid the ongoing war against Hamas.
The ICC's request targets top Israeli officials and Hamas leaders.
“There is no equivalence between Israel and Hamas,” Biden said. “It's clear Israel wants to do all it can to ensure civilian protection. Let me be clear, what’s happening is not genocide.”
The ICC's prosecutor Karim Khan rejected accusations by Israel and some of its allies questioning its independence, saying the request "is not a witch hunt, this is not some kind of emotional reaction to noise. It's a forensic process."
Here are some reactions to the arrest request:
- Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "The prosecutor’s absurd charges against me and Israel’s defense minister are merely an attempt to deny Israel the basic right of self-defense. And I assure you of one thing: This attempt will utterly fail."
- Hamas also denounced the request, sayingit “strongly condemns the attempts of the ICC Prosecutor to equate victims with aggressors by issuing arrest warrants against a number of Palestinian resistance leaders without legal basis.”
- The United Kingdom and Italy criticized the ICC's decision, while the Human Rights Watch (HRW) and a group of international legal experts supported the request.
- In the United States, US House Speaker Mike Johnson confirmedHouse Republican leaders are looking at sanctions in response to the ICC's decision and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said the court "succeeded only in discrediting itself."
Here are more headlines from the region:
- Iran elections: Iran's presidential elections will take place June 28 following the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister in a helicopter crash.
- Palestinian displacement: More than 900,000 people, or about 40% of Gaza's population, have been displaced in the past two weeks as Israeli bombardment continues across much of the enclave, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.
- Top US official wraps up trip to Mideast: National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Monday wrapped up his visit to the Middle East during which he met with Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid and members of the war cabinet, including Yoav Gallant and Benny Gantz.
- Israeli bombardment leaves 12 dead: At least 12 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli military bombardment of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip,according tolocalhealth officials.Residents and rescue workers said about 10 other people were trapped under the rubble of buildings that were flattened in the attack.
Biden rejects ICC arrest warrant request for Israeli leaders
From CNN's Sam Fossum
US President Joe Biden offered a full-throated rejection of the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant requests for Israeli leaders amid the ongoing war against Hamas.
“Let me be clear, we reject the ICC’s application for arrest warrants,” Biden said at an event in the Rose Garden celebrating Jewish American Heritage Month.
“There is no equivalence between Israel and Hamas,” Biden said. “It's clear Israel wants to do all it can to ensure civilian protection. Let me be clear, what’s happening is not genocide.”
Biden also acknowledged “the trauma” of October 7 and reiterated his “ironclad” commitment to Israel’s safety and security.And he promised not to rest until the hostages being held by Hamas are released.
The president also pledged his commitment to a two-state solution.
Biden and his top officials have said the creation of a Palestinian state with guarantees for Israel’s security is the only way to bring peace and stability to the Middle East.
Italian foreign minister calls court's move to seek arrest warrants for Israeli officials unacceptable
From CNN's AnneClaire Stapleton
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said it's "unacceptable" that the International Criminal Court moved to seek arrest warrants for Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and senior Hamas officials on the charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the war in Gaza.
"It seems unacceptable to me that a government legitimately elected by the people in a democratic way is equated with a terrorist organization which is the cause of everything that is happening," Tajani said in an interview with Italian broadcaster Rete 4.
At least 12 dead in Israeli bombardment of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, health officials say
From CNN’s Abdel Qadder Al-Sabbah, Sarah El Sirgany and Sana Noor Haq
At least 12 Palestinians were killed Monday in an Israeli military bombardment of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip,according tolocalhealth officials.
The strikes also injured 10 people, a spokesperson at the local Kamal Adwan Hospital told CNN.Residents and rescue workers say about 10 other people were trapped under the rubble of buildings that were flattened in the attack.
CNN video of the aftermath shows the concrete skeleton of destroyed buildings, with entire walls ripped through on several floors. Stone slabs and metal rods spill from the roof of the building as Palestinian men, women and children crowd near the site. Some hold their heads in their hands, while others search the debris for survivors.
Ambulances from the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) could be seen slowly moving along demolished roads, in footage filmed for CNN. Rescue workers and citizens dug through smashed pieces of broken concrete. In one scene, emergency crews resorted to using a rope to pull up the body of a woman wrapped in a blanket.
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza since the Hamas-led October 7 attacks has drained critical supplies and destroyed main highways. Fares Afana, the ambulance and emergency director for northern Gaza told CNN that emergency operations are “very difficult due to dwindling equipment.”
One man who spoke to CNN from the scene said there were children trapped under the destroyed home of the Kahlout family.
“Most of the people under the rubble are women and children. They were displaced,” the man said. “There is nowhere safe here,” he added.
In recent days, the Israeli military has intensified attacks on several locations saying its soldiers "eliminated more than 200 terrorists, destroyed terrorist infrastructure and destroyed underground tunnels both from the ground and from the air" in northern Gaza.
Author Salman Rushdie warns of Hamas-run "Taliban-like" Palestinian state
From CNN's Mia Alberti
Author Salman Rushdie believes that Hamas would take charge of a Palestinian state if one was to be formed now.
"I've been in favor of a separate Palestinian state most of my life. Since the 1980s. But if there was a Palestinian state now, it would be run by Hamas and we would have a Taliban-like state. A satellite state of Iran," he told public German broadcaster RBB24 this month.
"Is that what the progressive movements of the Western left want to create?" Rushdie said in an interview regarding the recent students protests in the US.
Rushdie said that "any normal person" would be shocked by the number of "innocent deaths" in Gaza, but he argued that pro-Palestinian demonstrators are failing to call out Hamas' actions.
"I think the demonstrators could also mention Hamas. Because it all started with them. And Hamas is a terrorist organization. And it's strange that a young progressive student organization supports a fascist terrorist group, because they do that in a way," he said.
The author, who has been targeted for his writing multiple times, also says that calls for a free Palestine become "problematic... when it descends into anti-Semitism and sometimes even support for Hamas."
McConnell: "The ICC has succeeded only in discrediting itself"
From CNN's Kristin Wilson and Morgan Rimmer
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says “the ICC has succeeded only in discrediting itself” by seeking an arrest warrant for Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Since the immediate aftermath of October 7, Israel and allies and Jewish people around the world have faced pernicious efforts to equate a sovereign nation's self-defense with barbaric acts of terrorism,” he said in Monday’s floor remarks.
“But today, the most noxious attempt at moral equivalence comes from unelected international bureaucrats brandishing a contrived and perverted authority.”
“In the same breath, the self-aggrandizing prosecutor of the International Criminal Court applied for arrest warrants for both Hamas chief terrorists and Israel’s duly elected prime minister. It’s a damning development, but not for the supposed subjects of the applications.
"The ICC has succeeded only in discrediting itself even further as a rogue kangaroo court utterly untethered to morality or justice,” McConnell said.
McConnell also addressed the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash over the weekend.
“The untimely death of the president of Iran does not change the underlying threats this regime poses to its own citizens the region and to the free world,” he said.
“I'd also like to extend my condolences to Iran's neighbors who still live under the constant threat of a regime that practices what it preaches. Death to Israel, death to America, war on international commerce, and chaos across the Middle East.
Meanwhile, other senior GOP senators running for leader also condemned the ICC's move regarding an arrest warrant for Netanyahu.
Senate Minority Whip John Thune, who is running to replace McConnell as GOP leader next Congress,tweetedthat the move was “as unjustifiable as it is shameful."
Sen. John Cornyn, who is also running, condemned the ICC’s decision in his ownposton X, calling it "illegitimate and unsubstantiated."
Jake Sullivan wraps up visit to Middle East
From CNN's Sam Fossum
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Monday wrapped up his visit to the Middle East, during which he met with Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid and members of the war cabinet, including Yoav Gallant and Benny Gantz.
During his meetings, he brought up the need to increase the surge of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip as well as the situation in the enclave more broadly.
“There was a broad range of discussions here to include humanitarian assistance and making sure we can increase that flow, get it, get it more sustained, as well as doing everything that they can to, to reassure and make comfortable humanitarian aid workers as that aid starts to get in. And of course, Mr. Sullivan reiterated our commitment to seeing Hamas defeated and also to try to see if we can get a hostages deal in place and moving forward,” National Security Council spokesmanJohn Kirby told reporters.
Asked later if any specific progress was made during the trip on a hostage deal, Kirby said that they continue to work on it but that there were no substantive updates.
Speaker Mike Johnson confirms House GOP leaders looking at sanctions on ICC
From Haley Talbot
House Speaker Mike Johnson confirmedHouse Republican leaders are looking at sanctions in response to the International Criminal Court’s decision to move ahead with arrest warrants including for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In the absence of leadership from the White House, Congress is reviewing all options, including sanctions, to punish the ICC and ensure its leadership faces consequences if they proceed.If the ICC is allowed to threaten Israeli leaders, ours could be next,” Johnson said in a statement Monday.
Johnson added: “The ICC has no authority over Israel or the United States, and today’s baseless and illegitimate decision should face global condemnation. International bureaucrats cannot be allowed to use lawfare to usurp the authority of democratic nations that maintain the rule of law.”
Some background: The warrants against the Israeli politicians, including Netanyahu, mark the first time the ICC has targeted the top leader of a close ally of the United States.
Israel and the US are not members of the ICC. However, the ICC claims to have jurisdiction over Gaza, East Jerusalem and the West Bank after Palestinian leaders formally agreed to be bound by the court’s founding principles in 2015.
