Arrest warrants highlight nature of Gaza crisis: China Daily editorial

While diplomats scrambled to broker a ceasefire, the Israeli air strikes on central Beirut, which killed at least 20 people, on Saturday, the fourth Israeli attack on the Lebanese capital in less than a week, were widely seen as a response by Tel Aviv to the International Criminal Court in Hague issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday.

The warrants accuse the two of "crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least Oct 8, 2023, until at least May 20, 2024", the day the prosecution filed the applications for the warrants.

But the world has clearly seen that Israel has not only kept carrying out relentless military attacks on the Gaza Strip and weaponizing its control of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian refugees there after May 20, but also taken the initiative to expand the crisis to Lebanon citing the threat from Hezbollah.

Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon since Oct 8 last year, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. The fighting has also displaced about 1.2 million people, or a quarter of Lebanon's population. Notably, the escalation marked by Israel's continuous attacks on what it claims to be Hezbollah targets in central Beirut came after US envoy Amos Hochstein traveled to the region in pursuit of a deal to end months of fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group.

All the signs show that after the Democratic Party lost the US presidential election on Nov 5, the wheeler-dealer Netanyahu Cabinet has become more hell-bent on ignoring the instructions of the Joe Biden administration and resisting international and domestic pressure to end its military operations. Israel's War Cabinet is taking its own course to steer the development of the Middle East crisis in a direction of its design, at least until the incoming Republican administration is sworn in on Jan 20.

That the Netanyahu office said that the arrest warrants are in essence an attack on Israel's right to self-defense is simply a further effort to blur the line between war crimes and a country's self-defense rights. That's also in line with the Israeli leader's long-term scheme of hiding his personal agenda under the national cause of Israel.

Although Israel is not a party to the ICC and Tel Aviv has vehemently condemned it and the probe it has initiated into Israel's "war crimes", calling it a "political tool at the service of the most extremist elements that seek to undermine peace, security and stability in the Middle East", the Israeli side does care about the ICC's decisions that have already forced the Israeli leader to carefully plan the routes of his overseas visits to avoid being arrested. Not to mention the moral pressure that has been brought to bear on Israel for its ruthless actions against the Palestinian people.

As a country that claims it "abides by international law", Israel should stop its brutality that goes beyond the legal right to self-defense in international law.

On the issue of Palestine, China has always stood on the side of fairness and justice, as well as on the side of international law. China opposes all actions that violate international law, including international humanitarian law, and condemns any practices that harm civilians or attack civilian facilities.

The ongoing conflict in Gaza has led to an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. China supports any efforts by the international community that contribute to achieving fairness and justice and upholding the authority of international law regarding the Palestine issue.

As a spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry said, Beijing hopes the ICC will maintain an objective and fair stance, exercise its power in accordance with the law, and interpret and apply the Rome Statute and general international law comprehensively and in good faith according to uniform standards, so as to do its part to help resolve the Middle East crisis at an early date.

The ICC's issuing of the arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant is not "antisemitic" as Netanyahu claimed. The court also issued an arrest warrant for Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, head of Hamas' armed wing, for actions related to the Oct 7 attacks on Israel that amounted to war crimes. The court's decision is a damning indictment of Israel's lawless bloodlust let loose by Washington.