ICC prosecutor faces criticism from Netanyahu after request for arrest warrants.

On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the International Criminal Court (ICC) for its decision to seek arrest warrants for leading Israeli and Hamas officials.

The ICC's chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, declared that he was seeking arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as top Hamas officials Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, and Ismail Haniyeh.

"Netanyahu stated on Planet Chronicle that the prosecutor is behaving erratically and is determined to harm the Jewish state and the only democracy in the Middle East. He added that the accusations against Israel are baseless and dangerous."

Netanyahu and Gallant were accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity by Khan. Khan claimed that seven crimes were committed by the top Israeli officials, including "starvation of civilians as a method of warfare," "intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population," and "willful killing."

Netanyahu accused the ICC of trying to establish "false symmetry" between Israel's democratically elected leaders and Hamas's terrorist tyrants by requesting arrest warrants against both Israeli and Hamas officials at the same time.

He stated that the ICC's decision would be equivalent to requesting arrest warrants for Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Adolf Hitler during World War II or George W. Bush and Osama bin Laden during the war on terror.

The war in Israel was initiated following the deaths of approximately 1,200 civilians and the abduction of about 250 people by Hamas militants, as reported by the Associated Press.

The Gaza Ministry of Health, run by Hamas, stated that over 35,000 Palestinians have been killed during the conflict, without differentiating between civilian and combatant deaths.

President Biden declined the ICC's request for arrest warrants against Israeli officials, stating that there is "no equivalence whatsoever" between Israel and Hamas.

Biden stated that Israel is taking all necessary measures to safeguard civilian populations.

Israel rejects allegations that it is committing genocide, as made by the International Court of Justice. They stand with Israel and will always support its security.

Netanyahu also criticized the ICC for alleging Israel has been starving Palestinian civilians.

Since Oct. 8, Israel has imposed a "total siege" of Gaza by arbitrarily restricting the transfer of essential supplies, including food and medicine, through the border crossings after they were reopened.

The siege of Gaza included cutting off cross-border water pipelines from Israel to Gaza, which was the principal source of clean water for Gazans, for a prolonged period beginning 9 October 2023. Additionally, electricity supplies were cut off and hindered from at least 8 October 2023 until today. This took place alongside other attacks on civilians, including those queuing for food, obstruction of aid delivery by humanitarian agencies, and attacks on and killing of aid workers, which forced many agencies to cease or limit their operations in Gaza.

Netanyahu dismissed the allegation as a "bunch of untruths."

""We sent 20,000 trucks carrying 500,000 tons of food and medicine to Gaza. The price of food in Gaza has decreased due to the markets being honest. People in Gaza receive 3,000 calories per day, which is more than the required 2,000 calories. It's all a bunch of nonsense," he said to Hannity."

Congress is considering sanctions as a response to the ICC's decision, according to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

In the upcoming months, a panel of three ICC judges will determine whether to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant, Sinwar, Deif, and Haniyeh.