The International Criminal Court on Thursday, November 21, issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant over the criminal war in Gaza. Both Netanyahu and Gallant will be liable for arrest if they travel to any of the more than 120 countries that are party to the ICC.
“Netanyahu Wanted for Crimes Against Humanity”, signs at the streets for Washington DC (Photo: PBS)
“The Chamber considered that there are reasonable grounds to believe that both individuals intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity,” the three-judge panel wrote in its unanimous decision to issue warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant. “The Chamber therefore found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Gallant bear criminal responsibility for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare,” the decision read.
All leaders of the Zionist parties slammed the International the ICC’s decision. “Israel is defending itself against terrorist organizations that attacked, murdered and raped our citizens. These arrest warrants are a reward for terrorism,” Zionists opposition leader MK Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) declared. The ICC’s decision constitutes “moral blindness and a shameful stain of historic proportion that will never be forgotten,” National Unity chief MK Benny Gantz, a former member of Netanyahu’s war cabinet, tweets.
Only Hadash (Demorcratic Front for Peace and Equality – Communist Party of Israel) ICC’s announcement. In a statement, Hadash declares “the ICC in The Hague decided based on clear evidence that the Gaza war is a war full of serious war crimes and crimes against humanity.” “Netanyahu and Gallant are responsible for the total destruction of Gaza and the mass murder of its residents. They must pay a price for it,” the Front states, calling for an immediate end to the war in Gaza and Lebanon.
According to MK Ofer Cassif (Hadash), “The truth cannot be hidden forever, even if the opposition pathetically joins forces with the criminal government and uses the worn-out and deceptive slogan: ‘anti-Semitism.’ No! It is not! It is a right and a decent call for justice. No one should be above international law and humane justice.” Last week, the Knesset Ethics Committee voted unanimously to suspend Cassif for six months over comments he made regarding the war crimes in Gaza, including his public support for the South African motion accusing Israel of genocide before the ICC.
Today, more than 66 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza after a series of Israeli strikes, health authorities and witnesses say. One strike near the Kamal Adwan hospital in the north of the occupied territory left dozens of people dead or missing, the facility’s director Hossam Abu Safiya tells WAFA Palestinian news agency. Another strike was reported in a neighborhood of Gaza City, with civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal saying 22 were dead.
According to WAFA Israeli occupation forces committed five massacres against families in the Gaza Strip over the last 24 hours, resulting in the killing of at least 71 Palestinians and the injury of 176 others, according to medical reports. They confirmed that the Palestinian death toll from the Israeli onslaught since October 7, 2023 has risen to 44,056 registered fatalities, with an additional 104,268 individuals sustaining injuries. Most of the victims are women and children and emergency services are still unable to reach many casualties and dead bodies trapped under the rubble or scattered on roads across the war-torn enclave, as Israeli occupation forces continue to obstruct the movement of ambulance and civil defense crews.
Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=32254
