Paris announced on Monday evening its support for the request of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants for Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Netanyahu, while US President Joe Biden confirmed his rejection of the decision, describing it as disgraceful.
A statement issued by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed Paris' support for the International Criminal Court, its independence, and the fight against impunity in all cases.
This came after the Public Prosecutor requested the issuance of arrest warrants against Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in addition to leaders from the Hamas movement.
The Foreign Ministry added in its statement that it warned Israel "of the necessity of its strict adherence to international humanitarian law, especially the unacceptable level of civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip and the insufficient access of humanitarian aid."
In turn, US President Joe Biden confirmed his rejection of the request to issue an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, describing the decision as “disgraceful.”
Biden stressed, during an event at the White House as part of “Jewish American Heritage Month,” that “what is happening is not genocide, we reject that.”
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken denounced the Attorney General's "shameful" request, warning that it endangered ceasefire efforts in Gaza.
Earlier Monday, the court's prosecutor, Karim Khan, announced that they were seeking to issue arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his Defense Minister Yoav Galant, and three Hamas leaders, on charges of committing "war crimes."
Since May 6, the Israeli occupation army has been launching a ground attack on Rafah, and the next day it announced control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah land crossing with Egypt, causing it to close to limited humanitarian aid.