The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) decision this week to indict Israeli leaders on charges of war crimes in Gaza has reignited the clash among Democrats over Israel's handling of the war with Hamas.

On one side, Israel’s staunchest Democratic allies quickly lashed out at the court, accusing it of pro-Palestinian bias and undermining the right of Israel to defend itself from terrorist threats.

On the other, liberal critics of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the ICC’s move, saying the humanitarian crisis in Gaza created by Israel’s military operations warrants the court’s scrutiny.

And Democratic leaders in the White House and Congress — while siding squarely with Israel in the near term — will face the more protracted challenge of easing the tensions between the feuding factions of the party on a prickly issue that’s severed them for years.

That internal clash has intensified since Hamas’s terrorist attacks Oct. 7, 2023, which killed almost 1,200 people in Israel and led to the kidnapping of roughly 250 more. While Democrats of all stripes have asserted their support for Israel’s right to self-defense, Netanyahu’s forceful response — which has killed more than 44,000 Palestinians in Gaza — has splintered that united front, alienating more liberal lawmakers who are now accusing Netanyahu of human rights violations while calling for President Biden to cut off weapons shipments to Tel Aviv.

It’s that liberal group that’s cheering the ICC for its decision Thursday to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, charging the pair with war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

© The Hill