(NewsInsights.org) – International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan submitted applications for arrest warrants on Monday, May 20, for both Hamas and Israeli leaders. GOP lawmakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), blasted the announcement that Khan was targeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Now, Johnson is considering sanctioning ICC officials and their families.
Khan released a formal statement on Monday, detailing which individuals he has targeted for arrest and why. He named Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, and Yahya Sinwar, accusing them of ongoing crimes against humanity and war crimes ranging from murder, rape, torture, and taking hostages to extermination, inhumane acts to captives, and cruelty, including sexual violence, against captives.
However, Khan also turned his focus on Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, Israel’s Defense Minister, accusing the officials of ongoing war crimes, including using starvation, deprivation, murder, and civilian population persecution as methods of war.
Khan cited instances when Israeli Defense Forces targeted civilian populations and aid workers as evidence of the leaders’ alleged plan to eliminate Hamas, obtain the return of hostages, and punish the Palestinian population for supporting Hamas’s leadership.
Khan’s request goes before ICC judges, who may take months to decide whether to issue warrants. However, Speaker Johnson slammed Khan for his “baseless and illegitimate decision” to seek arrest warrants and charges against Netanyahu and Gallant.
Johnson railed that Congress couldn’t allow so-called “International bureaucrats” to employ “lawfare to usurp the authority of democratic nations” while they engage in maintaining “the rule of law.” If the ICC issues warrants, the Speaker noted that Congress would review its options, up to and including sanctions, “In the absence of leadership from the White House.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) also promised to “work with colleagues on both sides of the aisle in both chambers” to institute sanctions against Khan and his family members should he succeed in obtaining arrest warrants against the Israeli officials.
Perhaps anticipating such a response, Khan concluded his statement by stressing the necessity of applying laws and principles equally rather than selectively and seeking justice for all the victims of this conflict.
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