The international court's chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, said on Monday that he believed Netanyahu, Gallant and Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh were criminally responsible for war crimes against civilians in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Khan alleged that Netanyahu used starvation as a method of war, intentionally directed attacks against a civilian population and deliberately caused great suffering.
Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, faces charges of responsibility for extermination and murder, as well as hostage-taking, torture, rape, other acts of sexual violence and cruel treatment.
Khan's request has gone to a pretrial hearing, which will decide whether to issue arrest warrants.
Asked about Khan's allegations at a news conference in Parramatta on Tuesday, Albanese said: “I don't comment on legal proceedings in Australia, let alone legal proceedings globally to which Australia is not a party.”
On the Middle East, he said it was important to condemn the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the conflict and to focus on the release of Israeli hostages, a humanitarian ceasefire and the increase in humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza.
'The international rule of law [should be] is applied fairly… to draw an equivalence between Israel and Hamas I think is disgusting.'
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton
“We have said that every life matters, whether Israeli or Palestinian, and we have called for progress towards a two-state solution,” he said.
Albanese's comments differed from those of Biden, who described the prosecutor's efforts to arrest Netanyahu and Gallant as heating up.
“Whatever this prosecutor may imply, there is no equivalence between Israel and Hamas,” Biden said.
An estimated 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage when Hamas militants stormed Israeli cities on October 7.
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The war has killed at least 35,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians. Around 80% of the population of 2.3 million Palestinians have been displaced within the territory.
Dutton on Tuesday backed Biden's position, saying Khan's allegations were anti-Semitic.
“[Albanese is] shows no leadership on anti-Semitism and is tarnishing and damaging our international relations with like-minded nations when he is not strong enough to stand by President Biden… he is an abomination, the ICC, and must stop this action. it's anti-Semitic,” Dutton said in Melbourne.
“We need to make sure that the international rule of law is applied fairly and not on a political basis and to draw an equivalence between Israel and Hamas I think is repugnant.”
Energy Minister Chris Bowen, whose western Sydney electorate has a large Muslim population, blasted Dutton's comments as irresponsible.
“I respect the International Criminal Court and … the work they do. You have to respect international law and of course [it] was not respected by Hamas. Israel must respect international law,” he told Sky.
“I heard … Peter Dutton's comments which were, in themselves, very irresponsible of Peter Dutton to drag this through a domestic political debate … international law must always be observed and no one is allowed to do that.”
The war crimes allegations have received mixed reactions from key advocacy groups, with the Palestine Advocacy Network of Australia welcoming Khan's application while the Executive Council of Australian Jews condemned the allegations.
The council's co-executive director, Alex Ryvchin, said Khan's accusations were “a dangerous politicization of the ICC” and “obscure the moral and legal distinction between terrorists and democratic states.”
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“When an ally suffers a lying political attack like this, it needs its friends in the international community to stand with it,” he said.
“President Biden demonstrated true friendship and we expect nothing less from our government.”
Australia's Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Mashni said the request had “taken a long time” and urged Australia to align with the court's request and use his voice to “end the genocide and ensure that justice is done”.
Liberal senator Dave Sharma, who served as Australia's ambassador to Israel, criticized the application, saying: “The moral equivalency practiced here is disgusting and absurd. This decision completely undermines the seriousness and credibility of the International Criminal Court”.
Greens foreign affairs spokesman Jordon Steele-John said: “The ICC prosecutor's findings have reinforced what many in our community already knew: there have been serious and sustained violations of international law in the genocide of Israel in Gaza and the attacks by Hamas on civilians in Gaza on October 7 and the treatment of hostages since then.
“Australia must immediately sanction Netanyahu and his war cabinet, halt arms exports to Israel and expel the ambassador until Israel fully complies with ICJ orders. [International Court of Justice] and ICC investigations”.
