Israel has told the International Criminal Court (ICC) it will appeal against arrest warrants which were issued last week for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
On Nov. 21 the ICC, seated in The Hague, issued warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant, and the military leader of Hamas, Ibrahim Al-Masri, known as Mohammed Deif, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity since the conflict began on Oct. 7, 2023 when Hamas terrorists crossed the border and killed 1,200 Israelis.
On Nov. 27 Netanyahu said, “Israel today submitted a notice to the International Criminal Court of its intention to appeal to the court, along with a demand to delay the execution of the arrest warrants.”
Netanyahu also said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) had updated him, “on a series of measures he is promoting in the U.S. Congress against the International Criminal Court and against countries that would cooperate with it.”
On Wednesday, British foreign secretary David Lammy said he would have no choice but to comply with the ICC’s request to arrest Netanyahu, if he entered Britain.
Britain, unlike Israel and the United States, is a signatory of the ICC.
The chief prosecutor of the ICC, Karim Khan, is a British lawyer.
But Lammy told parliament’s foreign affairs select committee he would continue to talk and meet with Netanyahu and other senior Israeli government officials about resolving the conflict in Gaza and getting aid to Palestinian civilians.
Lammy said: “I do believe they are important matters that require engagement from those of us in government. I can’t see circumstances under which I would not be speaking to the elected representatives of the Israeli government.”
The foreign secretary said he had an “obligation” to pass on the warrant request to a British court, adding: “That doesn’t allow me any discretion. I will issue that, transmit that to the courts. Then the courts will make their determination.”
If Netanyahu were to visit London, or another European country which is a member of the ICC, it could trigger a diplomatic incident, like the Pinochet affair.
In 1998 former leader of Chile, Gen. Augusto Pinochet, was detained in Britain on the basis of a warrant from a Spanish magistrate, Baltasar Garzón, investigating alleged human rights abuses in the 1970s.
Pinochet, who had aided Britain in its war over the Falklands Islands in 1982, was held under house arrest for 18 months before being allowed to fly home.
France Suggests Netanyahu Immunity
France also said on Wednesday it would continue to work with Netanyahu.
The French foreign ministry issued a statement on Nov. 22 saying it would respect its international obligations, but said the Rome Statute which established the ICC said a country could not act in a manner incompatible with its obligations, “with respect to the immunities of states not party to the ICC.”
“Such immunities apply to Prime Minister Netanyahu and other relevant ministers and will have to be taken into consideration should the ICC request their arrest and surrender,” the statement said.
On Wednesday the ICC’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, filed an application for an arrest warrant for the head of Myanmar’s military regime, Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, for crimes committed against the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority in 2016 and 2017.
In a video statement, Khan said, “After a careful review of the evidence, my office has concluded there are reasonable grounds to believe that Min Aung Hlaing … bears criminal responsibility for the crimes against humanity of deportation, and persecution of the Rohingya committed in Myanmar and in parts of Bangladesh … in 2017.”
Min Aung Hlaing later seized power from Myanmar’s elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, in a coup in 2021.
Nearly a million people fled into neighboring Bangladesh to escape mass killings and rapes by the army and Buddhist civilian mobs.
The CCP is a close ally of the Myanmar military regime and on Thursday, China’s foreign ministry urged the ICC to be, “just and fair” and exercise its duty “prudently.”
The Beijing regime is not a signatory to the ICC.
Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
From The Epoch Times