U.S. House Speaker to International Criminal Court: Focus on Hamas and Iran-aligned Groups Instead of Israel

The Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives condemned recent media reports regarding the International Criminal Court's (ICC) plans to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other high-ranking officials, calling the warrants 'illegal.' According to The Hill, Mike Johnson stated that the ICC should 'focus on Hamas and other terrorist groups aligned with the Islamic Republic' instead of 'wrongly targeting Israel' and should prosecute them 'for their involvement in war crimes.' Johnson emphasized that 'it is shameful that the ICC is reportedly planning to issue baseless and illegitimate arrest warrants against Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, and other senior Israeli officials.' These remarks come amid reports that Israeli officials believe the ICC is preparing to issue arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials as well as senior members of the Palestinian group Hamas. The New York Times reported that Israeli officials could be accused of 'preventing humanitarian aid from reaching Gaza' and 'pursuing an excessively harsh response' to Hamas following the terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, by this Iran-backed group in southern Israel. There is an increase in international efforts to establish a permanent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, with U.S. and Egyptian leaders negotiating the situation in the Middle East; the Hamas negotiating team has left Cairo. The U.S. State Department's deputy spokesperson stated that the Islamic Republic remains one of the 'largest exporters of terrorism.' Secretary of State Blinken mentioned that the U.S.-Saudi security agreement for normalizing relations with Israel is in its final stages, adding in Riyadh that the best way to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is to establish a ceasefire.