ICC Prosecutor Sees Demand For Action Against Israeli Leaders, Attack From Russia Over Putin Arrest Warrant

Karim Khan responded by telling the UN Security Council that he will not be swayed or intimidated as his team investigates possible war crimes or crimes against humanity in Gaza and the Palestinian territories as well as in Ukraine.

Libya's UN ambassador, Taher El-Sonni, told Khan that if the Libyan cases the ICC is investigating are so complex that they won't be completed until the end of 2025, he should allocate the court's efforts to the war in Gaza.

El-Sonni claimed genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity are being perpetrated by Israeli forces.

The world expects the ICC 바카라�to be courageous and to issue arrest warrants against officials of the Israeli regime who have repeated again and again that they want to commit genocidal actions against Palestinians,바카라� El-Sonni said.

바카라�What are you waiting for, Mr. Khan?,바카라� he added. 바카라�Don't you see the threats against civilians, the potential threats against civilians in Rafah and the massacre that would happen at any time?바카라�

El-Sonni was referring to the latest Israeli offensive in Gaza's southern city of Rafah, where 1.2 million Palestinians had fled seeking safety. The UN agency helping Palestinian refugees said Tuesday that nearly 450,000 have fled Rafah in the past week, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterated that there is no safe place anywhere in Gaza.

바카라�This is the actual test of the ICC,바카라� El-Sonni said. 바카라�Is the ICC politicised or is it independent and neutral?바카라�

Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia called the ICC a politicised 바카라�puppet body바카라� controlled by the West that 바카라�has absolutely nothing to do with justice.바카라�

The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin for alleged war crimes in March 2023, accusing the Russian president of personal responsibility for the abduction of children from Ukraine following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Two months later, Russia issued an arrest warrant for Khan. The ICC called that warrant 바카라�unacceptable바카라� and said the court 바카라�will remain undeterred in the conduct of its lawful mandate to ensure accountability for the gravest crimes of concern to the international community as a whole.바카라�

Nebenzia also accused the ICC of accomplishing nothing since it began a preliminary examination of the situation in the Palestinian territories in 2015 and a formal investigation in 2021.

바카라�In this regard, one wonders if the effectiveness of the ICC on this track has been affected by the fact that a new bipartisan bill has been submitted to the US Congress to sanction ICC officials involved in investigating not only the US but its allies,바카라� he told the Security Council.

Last week, two Republican congressmen introduced the 바카라�Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act바카라� to impose sanctions on ICC officials that go after the United States or its allies including Israel.

They cited reports the ICC is poised to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other high-ranking Israeli officials for their military offensive in Gaza following Hamas' October 7 surprise attack in southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people and saw about 250 people taken hostage.

The act's supporters said that if the ICC was a legitimate tribunal it should have issued arrest warrants for Hamas leaders.

Israel's military retaliation, now in its eighth month, has killed over 35,000 Palestinians, the majority of them women and children according to Gaza health officials, and it has sparked worldwide protests.

Algeria's deputy UN ambassador, Nacim Gaouaoui, expressed hope the ICC will take 바카라�a serious approach바카라� to its Palestinian investigations and 바카라�demonstrate that it is not a tool used by some members of the international community to threaten whoever they want, whenever they want.바카라�

Khan said he wanted to assure Russia's ambassador that 바카라�we will not be swayed, whether it's by warrants for my arrest or the arrest of elected officials of the court by the Russian Federation, pr whether it's by other elected officials in any other jurisdiction.바카라�

Khan said the ICC endeavours to be 바카라�deaf to the noise바카라� and this should be a time 바카라�for the law to be allowed to breathe,바카라� whether dealing with world crises like Ukraine, Gaza and the Palestinians, Libya or the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar.

바카라�We have a duty to stand up for justice, to stand up for victims,바카라� Khan said. 바카라�We will stand up and apply the law with integrity, with independence.바카라�