‘Sanctions’ – US Senator Lindsey Graham Threatens Allies over ICC Arrest Warrants

US Senator Lindsey Graham and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Photo: US Embassy Jerusalem, via Wikimedia Commons)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

“If you are going to help the ICC as a nation and force the arrest warrant against Bibi and Gallant, the former defense minister, I will put sanctions on you as a nation.”

US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has threatened to sanction US allies if they enforce International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

“To any ally, Canada, Britain, Germany, France, if you try to help the ICC, we’re going to sanction you,” Graham told Fox News in an interview late on Friday.

The ICC issued arrest warrants on Thursday for the two Israeli officials as well as a Hamas leader on charges of “crimes against humanity and war crimes,” compelling the ICC’s 124 member states to arrest them should they enter their territory.

“If you are going to help the ICC as a nation and force the arrest warrant against Bibi and Gallant, the former defense minister, I will put sanctions on you as a nation,” Graham said.

“You’re gonna have to pick the rogue ICC versus America,” he added.

About-Turn over ICC

Graham previously described the ICC’s pursuit of Russian President Vladimir Putin, as “extremely significant because it’s an action of an international evidence-based body that will stand the test of history.”

He however condemned the arrest warrants against the Israeli officials, describing the court as “a dangerous joke,” and “an irresponsible body.”

The White House and Israel have rejected the ICC’s decision, with US President Joe Biden slamming it as “outrageous” and Netanyahu calling it “antisemitic.”

The ICC said the arrest warrants were “for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024, the day the Prosecution filed the applications for warrants of arrest.”

Ongoing Genocide

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.

Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.

‘Outrageous’ – White House, US Officials Reject ICC Arrest Warrants

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 44,176 Palestinians have, to date, been killed, and 104,473 wounded.

Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.

Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.

Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.

Acute Famine

The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.

The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.

Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.

(PC, Anadolu)

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