Democrats are coming out divided against the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday following a prosecutor’s decision to pursue arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas’ top leaders, with one lawmaker describing it as « retribution against Israel for the original sin of existing as a Jewish State. » Rep. Richie Torres, D-N.Y., made the pointed remark as ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said his office has « reasonable grounds » to believe Netanyahu, Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, its top political leader Ismail Haniyeh and its military commander Mohammed Dief have committed « war crimes and crimes against humanity » since the onset of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7. « Israel is not a member of the ICC and therefore the ICC has no jurisdiction. The decision to seek arrest warrants is not law but politics, » Torres said in a statement. « It is not justice but rather retribution against Israel for the original sin of existing as a Jewish State and the subsequent sin of defending itself amid the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. « Today’s decision in effect makes it criminal for a state like Israel to defend itself against an enemy shrewd enough to embed itself in a civilian population, as Hamas has done to an extent never seen before in the history of warfare, » he continued. ICC REQUESTS ARREST WARRANTS FOR NETANYAHU, HAMAS LEADERS OVER ‘WAR CRIMES’ « But for October 7th and Hamas’ unprecedented militarization of its own civilian population and infrastructure, there would be no war in Gaza and no humanitarian crisis among Gazans, » Torres also said. « Hamas is the cause of everything tragic that has ensued and Hamas alone should be the target of criminal prosecution. » STEFANIK DEFENDS SPEECH AT ISRAEL’S KNESSET RIPPING BIDEN, DEMOCRATS Fellow New York Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who previously has said Israel is carrying out a « genocide » in Gaza and has been implementing a « forced famine, » said on Monday that « I think my role as much as possible broadly is … that we cease U.S. funding for human rights abuses, war crimes and violations abroad. « And what we see happening in Gaza, in the West Bank and throughout Palestine has been a broad – and as we’ve seen even from this morning that with the ICC’s designation as well of both Sinwar and Netanyahu – that this is happening, and it’s occurring this should not happen with U.S. resources, » she added. Fox News’ Tyler Olson contributed to this report.
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Publish date : 2024-05-20 18:32:33
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Democrats divided over ICC prosecutor seeking arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Hamas leaders
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