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Blinken Blasts ICC Request for Netanyahu’s Arrest, Says He’ll Work With Congress on Response to ‘Shameful’ Move
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Photo: Screenshot
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday lambasted the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor’s office for demanding arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defense chief, saying he would work with lawmakers “to find an appropriate response” to the move.
The ICC’s chief prosecutor on Monday officially requested arrest warrants for the Israeli premier, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas terrorist leaders — Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Al-Masri, and Ismail Haniyeh — accusing all five men of “bearing criminal responsibility” for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Israel or the Gaza Strip.
US and Israeli officials issued blistering condemnations of the ICC move, decrying the court for drawing a moral equivalence between Israel’s democratically elected leaders and the heads of Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group that launched the ongoing war in Gaza with its Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel.
Appearing before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee the next day, Blinken was pressed on whether he would support imposing sanctions on the ICC in response to its decision.
“As you know, within the last administration, the Trump people did an executive order to do sanctions on certain members of the ICC who are investigating us for things that happened in Afghanistan,” Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), the ranking member of the committee, said to Blinken. “President Biden’s administration came in and dissolved that executive order, as you know.”
Risch then grilled Blinken on whether he would back a “legislative approach” to prevent the ICC from “sticking its nose in the business of countries that have an independent, legitimate, democratic judicial system.”
“Can you support this?” Risch continued. “Obviously, the devil’s in the details in the legislation. But, do you think you could support a legislative approach to this?”
Blinken stated that he would be willing to work with both Republicans and Democrats on a “bipartisan basis to find an appropriate response” to the ICC targeting Israeli leaders.
Blinken added that the Biden administration originally lifted sanctions and visa restrictions on the ICC shortly after US President Joe Biden took office in 2021 with the goal of protecting American military personnel who served in Afghanistan. The top US diplomat claimed that the administration succeeded in its original goal but suggested that Monday’s actions by the ICC could lead policymakers in Washington to reverse course.
“Given the events of yesterday, I think we have to look at the appropriate steps to take to deal with, again, what is a profoundly wrong-headed decision,” Blinken said.
Republican leaders in the US Congress have threatened to push legislation that would impose sanctions on the ICC in response to its decision to seek arrest warrants for Israeli leaders.
On Monday, Blinken released a statement condemning the ICC for its decision to target Israel over its handling of the war against Hamas in Gaza.
Blinken said the US “fundamentally rejects” the ICC’s announcement.
“Hamas is a brutal terrorist organization that carried out the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust and is still holding dozens of innocent people hostage, including Americans,” he added. “We reject the prosecutor’s equivalence of Israel with Hamas. It is shameful.”
Blinken said that the ICC had “no jurisdiction over this matter,” noting that both Israel and the US are not parties of the Rome Statute, the international treaty that established the court.
The ICC claims it has jurisdiction over Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the West Bank since Palestinian leaders agreed in 2015 to be bound by the court’s founding principles.
Regardless, Blinken said, the court’s treatment of Israel had undermined its “legitimacy and credibility.”
A panel of ICC judges will now consider the prosecutor’s application for the arrest warrants and whether there is sufficient evidence to issue them.
The post Blinken Blasts ICC Request for Netanyahu’s Arrest, Says He’ll Work With Congress on Response to ‘Shameful’ Move first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Rubio Heads to Israel Amid Tensions Among US Middle East Allies
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to members of the media, before departing for Israel at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, US, September 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Nathan Howard/Pool
US President Donald Trump’s top diplomat, Marco Rubio headed to Israel on Saturday, amid tensions with fellow US allies in the Middle East over Israel’s strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar and expansion of settlements in the West Bank.
Speaking to reporters before departure, Rubio reiterated that the US and President Donald Trump were not happy about the strikes.
Rubio said the US relationship with Israel would not be affected, but that he would discuss with the Israelis how the strike would affect Trump’s desire to secure the return of all the hostages held by Hamas, get rid of the terrorists and end the Gaza war.
“What’s happened, has happened,” he said. “We’re gonna meet with them. We’re gonna talk about what the future holds,” he said.
“There are still 48 hostages that deserve to be released immediately, all at once. And there is still the hard work ahead once this ends, of rebuilding Gaza in a way that provides people the quality of life that they all want.”
Rubio said it had yet to be determined who would do that, who would pay for it and who would be in charge of the process.
After Israel, Rubio is due to join Trump’s planned visit to Britain next week.
Hamas still holds 48 hostages, and Qatar has been one of the mediators, along with the US, trying to secure a ceasefire deal that would include the captives’ release.
On Tuesday, Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an airstrike on Doha. US officials described it as a unilateral escalation that did not serve American or Israeli interests.
The strike on the territory of a close US ally sparked broad condemnation from other Arab states and derailed ceasefire and hostage talks brokered by Qatar.
On Friday, Rubio met with Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani at the White House, underscoring competing interests in the region that Rubio will seek to balance on his trip. Later that day, US President Donald Trump held dinner with the prime minister in New York.
Rubio’s trip comes ahead of high-level meetings at the United Nations in New York later this month. Countries including France and Britain are expected to recognize Palestinian statehood, a move opposed by Israel.
Washington says such recognition would bolster Hamas and Rubio has suggested the move could spur the annexation of the West Bank sought by hardline members of the Israeli government.
ON Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed an agreement to push ahead with a settlement expansion plan that would cut across West Bank land that the Palestinians seek for a state. Last week, the United Arab Emirates warned that this would cross a red line and undermine the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords that normalized UAE-Israel relations in 2020.
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Netanyahu Posts Message Appearing to Confirm Hamas Leaders Survived Doha Strike
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – In a statement posted to social media on Saturday evening, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the Qatar-based leadership of Hamas, reiterating that the jihadist group had to regard for the lives of Gazans and represented an obstacle to ending the war and releasing the Israelis it held hostage.
The wording of Netanyahu’s message appeared to confirm that the strike targeting the Hamas leaders in Doha was not crowned with success.
“The Hamas terrorists chiefs living in Qatar don’t care about the people in Gaza,” wrote Netanyahu. “They blocked all ceasefire attempts in order to endlessly drag out the war.” He added that “Getting rid of them would rid the main obstacle to releasing all our hostages and ending the war.”
Israel is yet to officially comment on the result of the strike, which has incurred widespread international criticism.
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Trump Hosts Qatari Prime Minister After Israeli Attack in Doha
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani attends an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, Sept. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
US President Donald Trump held dinner with the Qatari prime minister in New York on Friday, days after US ally Israel attacked Hamas leaders in Doha.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an attack in Qatar on Tuesday, a strike that risked derailing US-backed efforts to broker a truce in Gaza and end the nearly two-year-old conflict. The attack was widely condemned in the Middle East and beyond as an act that could escalate tensions in a region already on edge.
Trump expressed annoyance about the strike in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and sought to assure the Qataris that such attacks would not happen again.
Trump and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani were joined by a top Trump adviser, US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
“Great dinner with POTUS. Just ended,” Qatar’s deputy chief of mission, Hamah Al-Muftah, said on X.
The White House confirmed the dinner had taken place but offered no details.
The session followed an hour-long meeting that al-Thani had at the White House on Friday with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
A source briefed on the meeting said they discussed Qatar’s future as a mediator in the region and defense cooperation in the wake of the Israeli strikes against Hamas in Doha.
Trump said he was unhappy with Israel’s strike, which he described as a unilateral action that did not advance US or Israeli interests.
Washington counts Qatar as a strong Gulf ally. Qatar has been a main mediator in long-running negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and for a post-conflict plan for the territory.
Al-Thani blamed Israel on Tuesday for trying to sabotage chances for peace but said Qatar would not be deterred from its role as mediator.