International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan justified his decision to request arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister and defence minister in an interview with a British newspaper, AFP reports.

“It’s a precarious moment internationally and if we don’t hold on to the law, we have nothing to cling onto,” Khan, who rarely speaks publicly, told the Sunday Times newspaper.

He added that countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia were watching closely as to whether global institutions would seek to uphold international law.

“I am not saying that Israel with its democracy and its supreme court is akin to Hamas, of course not,” Khan added in his interview.

“I couldn’t be clearer, Israel has every right to protect its population and to get the hostages back. But nobody has a licence to commit war crimes or crimes against humanity. The means define us.”

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