Donald Trump is reportedly weighing sanctions against British lawyer Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC), who is leading the case against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The ICC has come under fire from U.S. officials after issuing arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, citing alleged war crimes in Gaza.
Khan first requested the court to issue these warrants in May of this year.
On Thursday, the three-judge panel made a unanimous decision to issue them.
In response to the warrants, Trump’s future national security adviser, Mike Waltz, said the court had “no credibility” and promised “a strong response” to the ICC when Trump takes office in January.
As reported by the Telegraph, Mr Khan is thought to be among the officials who could be sanctioned by the Trump administration.
Senior Republican politicians have also called for sanctions, including the chairman of the House foreign affairs committee, Michael McCaul, who called for the Senate to enact legislation to sanction officials immediately.
However, the UK appears to be taking a different approach to the US following the ICC’s decision to issue warrants.
When asked if Netanyahu would be arrested if he visited the UK, No 10 refused to explicitly comment on the individual case, saying it was a hypothetical situation, but said the UK would follow its legal obligations.
No 10 said the domestic process linked to ICC arrest warrants has never been used to date by the UK because no one wanted by the international court had visited the country.
Pressed on whether a secretary of state would comply with requirements under the International Criminal Court Act 2001, Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman said: “Yes, the government would fulfil its obligations under the Act and indeed its legal obligations.”
The Act states that the Secretary of State must, on receipt of a request for arrest from the ICC, “transmit the request and the documents accompanying it to an appropriate judicial officer”.
The spokesperson also said Sir Keir will continue to speak to Mr Netanyahu “in order to conduct the essential business of reaching a ceasefire in the Middle East”.
EU heavyweights Germany and France declined to say what they would do if the Israeli leader entered their territory, while Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orban vowed to defy the warrant.
The ICC said there were “reasonable grounds to believe” that Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant were responsible for “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”.
The ICC pre-trial chamber determined there are “reasonable grounds to believe” that both Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Gallant bear criminal responsibility as civilian superiors for the war crime of deliberately targeting the civilian population.
Source: Independent
Bd-pratidin English/ Jisan
