US Democrat Senator Chris Coons has said that Israel risked ‘losing support globally’ in its campaign against Hamas as the United Nations reiterated its call for a humanitarian ceasefire in the region where Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 12,000 people.
“There is a critical moment here in the court of world opinion where I have cautioned Israeli leaders directly that they’re losing support globally,” he has said in an interview with Stephen Sackur on his show HARDtalk which is aired on BBC News.
He was responding to a query whether Israel has violated international law or not. At least 5,000 children were among the dead alongside 3,300 women, according to the government.
The International Criminal Court prosecutor has said he had received a joint request from five countries to investigate the situation in the Palestinian territories, Reuters reported.
In response to the query, Coons said that it was not for him to make a judgement whether Israel has violated international law. But he added that it would have significant consequences for an American leader to reach that conclusion.
He was of the view that the Benjamin Netanyahu-led government should be focused on their campaign and find ways to make sure that their actions comport with international law and the expectations of the civilized world.
When asked, Coons replied that he conveyed the same message to the Israeli prime minister. Netanyahu’s response was similar to US President Joe Biden, calling for taking out Hamas and they would do their “best” to minimise civilian casualties.
Earlier this week, Muslim leaders asked the war crimes court to investigate Israel over the ‘war crimes’ against Palestinians and assigned the general secretaries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to follow up on the implementation of the probe.
They also established two specialised legal monitoring units to document Israeli crimes committed in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023.
“Israel needs to provide more opportunities for humanitarian relief to get into Gaza… Their campaign has… caused too many civilian casualties,” Coons said.
