U.S. President Joe Biden sharply criticized the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague following its decision to issue arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant.
In a statement delivered late Thursday night, Biden said, "The ICC issuance of arrest warrants against Israeli leaders is outrageous. Let me be clear once again: whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas. We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security."
Biden's statement followed a response from the U.S. Pentagon on the warrants. Deputy Pentagon Spokesperson Sabrina Singh said on Thursday that the Pentagon rejected the ICC's decision and is concerned about the expedited manner in which the warrants were issued.
According to her, senior Pentagon officials are currently consulting with their Israeli counterparts about the next steps.
"We're continuing to support Israel with the assistance it needs in its fight against Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah, we don't see eye-to-eye on where the ICC is and we reject the court's decision to issue these arrest warrants,” Singh noted.
The ICC on Thursday announced that it had rejected appeals against the move submitted by Israel and issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, who was recently dismissed. The court also issued an arrest warrant for Mohammed Deif, despite reports of his elimination, as Hamas has not confirmed his death.
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The first countries to announce compliance with the arrest warrants were Jordan, France and the Netherlands, which houses the ICC. EU Foreign Minister Josep Borrell asserted that the decision wasn’t political and must be respected.