ICC prosecutor seeks arrest of Netanyahu, Hamas leaders
The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court is seeking arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in connection with their actions during the seven-month war.
Karim Khan Photo: X
Karim Khan said he believed Netanyahu, his Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and three Hamas leaders – Yehya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh – were responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip and Israel.
Speaking of the Israeli actions, Khan said in a statement on Monday that “the effects of the use of starvation as a method of warfare, together with other attacks and collective punishment against the civilian population of Gaza are acute, visible and widely known … They include malnutrition, dehydration, profound suffering and an increasing number of deaths among the Palestinian population, including babies, other children, and women.”
Of the Hamas actions on October 7, he said he saw for himself “the devastating scenes of these attacks and the profound impact of the unconscionable crimes charged in the applications filed today”
Speaking with survivors, I heard how the love within a family, the deepest bonds between a parent and a child, were contorted to inflict unfathomable pain through calculated cruelty and extreme callousness.
These acts demand accountability.”
Zionist Federation of Australia President Jeremy Leibler said: “Today’s announcement by the ICC prosecutor is a disgrace and will be a stain on the ICC forever. Placing the ISIS-like proscribed terrorist organisation Hamas alongside the leaders of the Middle East’s only democracy while it is fighting a barbaric terrorist organisation is legally misconceived and morally indefensible.”
AIJAC Executive Director Dr Colin Rubenstein commented: “This abhorrent decision is simply the latest abominable travesty from a UN system that is so biased against Israel that the General Assembly and other UN agencies, year after year, pass more resolutions condemning Israel then every other country combined.
“Under any reasonable interpretation of the relevant statutes and treaties, the Court does not even have jurisdiction over Israel, given Israel is not a signatory and has a fully independent legal system willing and able to investigate such matters itself.
“The Chief Prosecutor’s decision is based on numerous false allegations regarding Israeli conduct. For example, Netanyahu and Gallant are accused of deliberately targeting civilians, despite Israel’s extensive efforts to evacuate civilians before attacking. They are accused of deliberately starving the people of Gaza, despite Israel’s great efforts to get humanitarian aid into the enclave. They are accused of depriving Gaza of water, even though 90% of its water comes from within the territory.
“The false equivalence being drawn between a country fighting a war of self-defence in accordance with international law and Hamas, a terrorist group that launched an unprovoked orgy of murder, rape and kidnapping, is beyond outrageous.
AAP with J-Wire
