The International Criminal Court (ICC) has faced heavy criticism from Israel, the US, Germany and Canada since it announced it was seeking warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas leaders, for war crimes and crimes against humanity. In an interview with FRANCE 24, former ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo called the reactions "disappointing", saying launching attacks on the court's decision instead of focusing on the crimes themselves was a "huge mistake".
On May 20, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan said he had requested arrest warrants for Netanyahu, his Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and three Hamas leaders, including its Gaza-based chief Yahya Sinwar.
US President Joe Biden called the move "outrageous", saying there was "no equivalence" between Israel and Hamas.
Moreno Ocampo, who served as the ICC's first chief prosecutor from 2003-2012, rejected the notion of equivalance.
Khan is "clearly saying that the Hamas leaders committed these crimes that are completely different than the allegations against Netanyahu and Gallant," Moreno Ocampo told FRANCE 24.
Read moreICC's bold move on Gaza warrants brings fresh scrutiny of Prosecutor Karim Khan
"I don't understand how it's possible" to discuss [this idea of equivalence] instead of discussing the crimes committed," he added.
Moreno Ocampo also defended Khan's decision to seek arrests for both the Israeli and Hamas leaders, asking what the reaction would have been if he had only done so for one side and not the other.
Asked more specifically about the US threat to impose sanctions on the ICC in protest over the warrants, Moreno Ocampo called this approach "completely wrong".
Watch morePM non grata? Israel blasts ICC bid to charge both Netanyahu and Hamas
