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ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrant for Netanyahu and Hamas leaders
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has announced its intention to seek arrest warrants for senior Hamas and Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three top Hamas leaders: Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh, and Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri. The warrants are sought over war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the Israel-Gaza conflict. According to ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan, he has reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant bear responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, willfully causing great suffering, serious injury to body or health, or cruel treatment. The prosecutor also believes that the three Hamas leaders are responsible for similar crimes. The ICC's decision has been met with outrage in Israel, with Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz calling it "a historical disgrace." Netanyahu himself has described the move as "scandalous."
The law that protects civilians in war was developed more than 100 years ago and it applies in every country in the world regardless of the reasons for a conflict.
The collective punishment of the Palestinian people should not be continued.
No foot soldier, no commander, no civilian leader, no one, can act with impunity.
The world was shocked on 7 October when people were ripped from their homes, from their bedrooms in different kibbutzim … people have suffered enormously.
International law and the laws of armed conflict apply to all.
This took place alongside other attacks on civilians, including those queuing for food; obstruction of aid delivery by humanitarian agencies; and attacks on and killing of aid workers, which forced many agencies to cease or limit their operations in Gaza.
Drawing parallels between the leaders of a democratic country determined to defend itself from despicable terror to leaders of a blood-thirsty terror organisation (Hamas) is a deep distortion of justice and blatant moral bankruptcy.
If the prosecutor's position is accepted — that would be an ineffaceable, historic crime.
The State of Israel is waging one of the just wars fought in modern history following a reprehensible massacre perpetrated by terrorist Hamas on the 7th of October.
This is like creating a moral equivalence after Sep 11 between President (George W) Bush and Osama bin Laden, or during World War II between FDR (Franklin D Roosevelt) and Hitler.
Arrest warrants against them are arrest warrants against us all.
We have not seen such a show of hypocrisy and hatred of Jews as that of the Hague Tribunal since Nazi propaganda.
No such comparison can be made — it is unacceptable and unforgivable.
This government behaves as if it has decided to make sure at all costs that Israel will be swayed all over the world. They went crazy.
We cannot accept the outrageous comparison between Netanyahu and Sinwar … We will not remain silent.
We have been conducting a just war. Let us be clear: We will not stay silent.
Hamas is a brutal terrorist organization that carried out the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust and is still holding dozens of innocent people hostage, including Americans. This decision does nothing to help, and could jeopardize, ongoing efforts to reach a cease-fire agreement that would get hostages out and surge humanitarian assistance in.
Israel-Palestine Conflict
- Gaza Strip Airstrikes Claim Over 150 Lives
- Hamas says new Gaza talks have begun, hours after Israel launched major offensive
- Trump suggests US should establish a "freedom zone" in Gaza
sources
- 1.The Guardian
- 2.The Washington Post
- 3.The Times
- 4.The New York Times
- 5.Le Monde
- 6.DW News
- 7.France 24
- 8.The Wall Street Journal
- 9.Al Jazeera
- 10.Haaretz
- 11.CNA News
- 12.CNN
perspectives
- 1.US Foreign Policy
- 2.US under Donald Trump
- 3.2024 US Presidential Election
- 4.Israel-Palestine Conflict
- 5.British Foreign Policy
- 6.Israel Foreign Policy
- 7.Islamic Terrorism
- 8.Israel under Benjamin Netanyahu
- 9.Israel-US Relations
- 10.2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel
- 11.Qatar Foreign Policy
countries
- 1.Austria
- 2.Australia
- 3.Bangladesh
- 4.Belgium
- 5.Benin
- 6.Bolivia, Plurinational State of
- 7.Brazil
- 8.Canada
- 9.Switzerland
- 10.China
- 11.Czechia
- 12.Germany
organizations
- 1.International Court of Justice
- 2.Hamas
- 3.United Nations
- 4.European Union
- 5.White House
- 6.Israel Defense Forces
- 7.Republican Party
- 8.Palestine Liberation Organization
- 9.Clooney Foundation for Justice
- 10.Gaza Health Ministry
- 11.UN Security Council
- 12.Columbia Law School
persons
- 1.Benjamin Netanyahu
- 2.Karim Khan
- 3.Yoav Galant
- 4.Yahwa Sinwar
- 5.Ismail Haniyeh
- 6.Muhammad Al-Deif
- 7.Joe Biden
- 8.Benny Gantz
- 9.Vladimir Putin
- 10.Israel Katz
- 11.Yair Lapid
- 12.Amal Clooney