{"id":33295,"date":"2024-04-30T13:03:32","date_gmt":"2024-04-30T20:03:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=33295"},"modified":"2024-04-30T13:03:33","modified_gmt":"2024-04-30T20:03:33","slug":"we-do-not-support-icc-probe-of-israeli-war-crimes-in-gaza-says-white-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/04\/30\/we-do-not-support-icc-probe-of-israeli-war-crimes-in-gaza-says-white-house\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;We Do Not Support&#8217; ICC Probe of Israeli War Crimes in Gaza, Says White House"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/media-library\/white-house-press-secretary-karine-jean-pierre.jpg?id=52134337&amp;width=1200&amp;height=400&amp;quality=90&amp;coordinates=0%2C37%2C0%2C306\" alt=\"White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, D.C. on April 29, 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00a0(Photo: Win McNamee\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&#8220;ICC warrants against Israel and Hamas will offer the West a choice: Either torpedo the international criminal justice project they have advanced since 1945 for good or hypocritically demand impunity for Israeli war crimes.&#8221;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/author\/jessica-corbett\">JESSICA CORBETT<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Apr 29, 2024  (CommonDreams.org)<a href=\"https:\/\/giving.commondreams.org\/-\/XKQWGZVR\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday reaffirmed the Biden administration&#8217;s opposition to the International Criminal Court potentially issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or other top officials related to Israel&#8217;s war on the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/gaza\">Gaza<\/a>&nbsp;Strip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Would the U.S. or the White House see any potential arrests by the ICC as an aggravating factor in the negotiations?&#8221; one journalist asked about talks to end the bloodshed and free hostages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jean-Pierre responded: &#8220;So, we&#8217;ve been really clear about the ICC investigation. We do not support it. We don&#8217;t believe that they have the jurisdiction. And I&#8217;m just gonna leave it there for now.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WATCH?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#WATCH<\/a> | On International Criminal Court&#39;s (ICC) investigation into Israel&#39;s conduct in Gaza, White House press secretary Karine Jean Pierre says, &quot;&#8230;We don&#39;t believe is in the ICC jurisdiction in this situation. We do not support the investigation. And I think that kind of\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/du8NpEtLxj\">pic.twitter.com\/du8NpEtLxj<\/a><\/p>&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ANI\/status\/1785066007272268177?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 29, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Asked later about President Joe Biden&#8217;s Sunday call with Netanyahu and whether the U.S. government is involved in any attempts to avert warrants from the Hague-based court, the press secretary echoed her previous comments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The exchanges followed&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/netanyahu-arrest-warrants\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reporting<\/a>&nbsp;that the Israeli government, in partnership with the U.S., is &#8220;making a concerted effort to head off&#8221; possible arrest warrants from the ICC targeting Netanyahu as well as Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/israel\">Israel<\/a>&nbsp;Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Citing two unnamed Israeli officials,&nbsp;<em>Axios<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2024\/04\/29\/netanyahu-biden-icc-arrest-warrants-war-crimes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>&nbsp;that Netanyahu on Sunday asked Biden to help prevent the ICC from issuing warrants. A spokesperson for the White House National Security Council told the outlet that &#8220;as we have publicly said many times, the ICC has no jurisdiction in this situation and we do not support its investigation.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">ICC warrants against Israel and Hamas will offer the West a choice: either torpedo the international criminal justice project they have advanced since 1945 for good or hypocritically demand impunity for Israeli war crimes. Seems like the US has chosen the former <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/AZ3omFnw32\">https:\/\/t.co\/AZ3omFnw32<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Alonso Gurmendi (@Alonso_GD) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Alonso_GD\/status\/1785039988813402202?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 29, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Neither Israel nor the United States is a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the treaty that established the tribunal, but&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/palestine\">Palestine<\/a>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.icc-cpi.int\/palestine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">accepted<\/a>&nbsp;its jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed &#8220;in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem,&#8221; in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The ICC formally&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.icc-cpi.int\/palestine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">launched<\/a>&nbsp;its war crimes investigation in the occupied Palestinian territories in 2021, long before the IDF began its ongoing retaliation for the Hamas-led attack October 7 on Israel. The probe includes crimes going back to June 13, 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Urging Biden &#8220;to intervene as part of the administration&#8217;s ongoing commitment to Israel,&#8221; U.S. Sen.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/john-fetterman\">John Fetterman<\/a>&nbsp;(D-Pa.) on Monday&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SenFettermanPA\/status\/1784982764770439605\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">declared<\/a>&nbsp;that &#8220;it would be a fatal blow to the judicial and moral standing of ICC to pursue this path against Israel.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><\/strong>Mark Kersten, an assistant professor at the University of the Fraser Valley,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MarkKersten\/status\/1785029606195519627\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">responded<\/a>: &#8220;Now a Democratic senator is threatening the ICC&#8217;s very existence if it does what it was created to do: Impartially and independently investigate international crimes, without fear or favor. I hope this grotesque threat and atrocity-denialism is roundly condemned.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also noting Fetterman&#8217;s comments, Alonso Gurmendi, a lecturer in international relations at King&#8217;s College London,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Alonso_GD\/status\/1785041676785885241\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a>: &#8220;They really don&#8217;t realize just how isolated Western governments are on this. Even among their own populations. This won&#8217;t be a fatal blow to the ICC. It will relaunch its relationship with the global majority. Fighting this will only isolate and weaken the West further.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">What would be a fatal blow to the judicial and moral standing of the ICC is for a president of a third state to compromise the independence of the prosecutor, and if Fetterman can\u2019t see that then he has really lost it.<\/p>&mdash; Ian Higham (@highamian) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/highamian\/status\/1785002679128719759?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 29, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In January, the International Court of Justice found that Israel is &#8220;plausibly&#8221; engaged in genocide in Gaza. As of Monday, the Israeli bombardment and blockade had&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.barrons.com\/news\/health-ministry-in-hamas-run-gaza-says-war-death-toll-at-34-488-d7c4379e?refsec=topics_afp-news\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">killed<\/a>&nbsp;at least 34,488 Palestinians in the Hamas-governed strip, injured another 77,643, left thousands more missing in bombed-out communities, and displaced around 90% of the enclave&#8217;s 2.3 million people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since October, the United States has ramped up its billions of dollars in military support for Israel. The Biden administration has been accused of being complicit in genocide in federal court. The next hearing in the case is\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/biden-genocide\" target=\"_blank\">scheduled<\/a>\u00a0for June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/author\/jessica-corbett\">JESSICA CORBETT<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jessica Corbett is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/author\/jessica-corbett\">Full Bio &gt;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, D.C. on April 29, 2024. \u00a0(Photo: Win McNamee\/Getty Images) &#8220;ICC warrants against Israel and Hamas will offer the West a choice: Either torpedo the international criminal justice project they have advanced since 1945&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/04\/30\/we-do-not-support-icc-probe-of-israeli-war-crimes-in-gaza-says-white-house\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33295"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33295"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33295\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33296,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33295\/revisions\/33296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}