Biden Denounces ICC Announcement Seeking Warrants as ‘Outrageous’ |
U.S. President Joe Biden has rejected (CNN) yesterday’s news that the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor is seeking arrest warrants for three Hamas leaders and two Israeli officials related to Hamas’s October 7 attacks and the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. Biden issued a statement calling the development “outrageous” and said there is “no equivalence” between Israel and Hamas. Speaking at an event to mark Jewish American Heritage Month, Biden said that Israel “wants to do all it can to ensure civilian protection” and “what is happening is not genocide.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, one of the leaders the prosecutor accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity, said that he rejected the comparison (Reuters) with Hamas “with disgust,” while Hamas, too, rebuked the charges and demanded their cancellation. In Europe, countries including Italy and the United Kingdom (UK) criticized the news (FT), while Belgium and France were among those that voiced their support for the ICC. While U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said House Republican leaders would consider imposing sanctions on the court, U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby did not endorse that effort.
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“I do think it is important to recognize the significance of [ICC] arrest warrants when and if they are actually issued. They send a very strong signal against impunity and a very strong signal to all sides to comply with international humanitarian law, international criminal law and to, above all, protect the rights and safety of civilians,” CFR expert David J. Scheffer tells NPR.
“The conflict in Gaza is an extreme example of the breakdown of the law of war, but it is not an isolated one. It is the latest in a long series of wars in the years since 9/11, from the U.S.-led ‘war on terror’ to the Syrian civil war to Russia’s war in Ukraine, that have chipped away at protections for civilians,” Yale University’s Oona A. Hathaway writes in Foreign Affairs.
“Israel will be put in a difficult situation if its prime minister and defense minister cannot set foot in any Western country or have contact with it. The warrants are personal, so at this point they would have no effect on other senior Israeli officials,” Haaretz’s Chen Maanit writes. This Backgrounder by Claire Klobucista and CFR’s Mariel Ferragamo looks at the role of the ICC.
Read the full suite of Foreign Affairs and CFR.org resources on Israel and the current conflict.
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World Leaders Weigh Potential AI Agreement at Summit Hosted by South Korea, UK |
Leaders are expected to weigh (AP) an agreement on artificial intelligence (AI) safety and innovation at a virtual session today and an in-person session in Seoul tomorrow. It is the follow-up to a meeting six months ago in the UK, where government and industry envoys discussed guiding principles for breakneck AI development. This Backgrounder by CFR’s Noah Berman unpacks the world of AI.
Taiwan: Semiconductor firms ASML and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company are able to disable advanced chipmaking machines if China invades Taiwan, unnamed sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. Roughly 90 percent of the world’s most sophisticated chips are made in Taiwan. Spokespeople for the two companies, the Dutch trade ministry, the White House National Security Council, and U.S. Commerce and Defense Departments did not comment on the story.
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Indian Authorities Arrest Four Sri Lankan Men for Alleged Militant Links |
Authorities in Sri Lanka will work with (Daily Mirror) their Indian counterparts to gather more information after the arrests in the Indian city of Ahmedabad, Sri Lanka’s public security minister said. Indian police cited (India Today) suspected links to the Islamic State when they announced the arrests yesterday, claiming the men were in India to carry out an attempted attack.
Pakistan: At least ten companies submitted bids to buy a majority stake in Pakistan’s national airline by early May, as the government tries to privatize it, Nikkei reported. Pakistan has tried and failed to sell the airline before. Privatizations are among the economic reforms advised by the International Monetary Fund as part of its loan programs.
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Middle East and North Africa |
Iran Sets June 28 Election Date as Country Mourns President |
The new vote follows the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash on Sunday that Iranian state media blamed (NYT) on a “technical failure” and is investigating. Funeral events for Raisi and Iran’s foreign minister, who was also on the helicopter, began today in northwestern Iran.
In this Expert Brief, CFR Senior Fellow Ray Takeyh explains that Iran’s political helm is unlikely to change direction after Raisi’s death.
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Hundreds of Hostages Rescued From Boko Haram Captivity, Nigerian Army Says |
Nigerian military forces rescued (AP) 350 hostages who had been held captive for months or years by Boko Haram extremists in the country’s northeast, the army said yesterday. Nearly all were women and children, officials said.
South Africa: Exports to the European Union (EU) will fall 4 percent (Bloomberg) by 2030 under current EU carbon border taxes, according to a report by the country’s central bank. If other countries adopt similar taxes, South Africa’s exports could drop 10 percent and its gross domestic product could dip by more than 9 percent by 2050, the report warned. The bank called for greater efforts to transition to a greener economy.
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U.S. Treasury Secretary Calls on EU to Join U.S. Efforts to Restrict Chinese Green Tech |
Western allies should respond “in a united way” (FT) to China’s growing power in the manufacturing sector lest they put their own industries at risk, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a speech in Germany today. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said that Europe will take a different approach than the U.S. “blanket tariffs” on Chinese imports.
At this CFR Media Briefing, experts discuss the new U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports.
UK: A court ruled yesterday that it will allow (NYT) WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to appeal his extradition to the United States. Assange has been held in a London prison since 2019. He faces U.S. charges under the Espionage Act related to the publication of tens of thousands of leaked diplomatic and military documents.
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Haiti’s Main International Airport Reopens After Closure Due to Violence |
The reopening of the airport in the capital, Port-au-Prince, yesterday is expected (AP) to help ease the shortage of medicine and other basic supplies in Haiti as the country struggles with surging gang violence. The airport had been closed for nearly three months.
Colombia: President Gustavo Petro replaced (AFP) the country’s top army commander, the defense ministry said yesterday. It did not give an official reason for the change, which comes amid a spate of attacks against security forces by drug trafficking and guerrilla groups.
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Senate Report: Automakers Bought Parts Made by Chinese Firm Flagged for Forced Labor |
BMW, Jaguar Land Rover, and Volkswagen bought parts (AP) made by Chinese firm JWD, which was sanctioned in 2021 for using forced labor, a Senate Finance Committee investigation found. The carmakers said they have taken action to come into compliance with U.S. law on forced labor, while lawmakers have called for increased supply chain scrutiny from agencies such as U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
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