The The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants this Thursday against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for “crimes against humanity and war crimes.” committed from at least October 8, 2023 to at least May 20, 2024, the day on which the Prosecutor’s Office submitted the requests for arrest warrants.”
Both Netanyahu and Gallant are “criminally responsible for the following crimes as co-perpetrators for committing the acts jointly with others: the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and crimes against humanity of murder, persecution and other inhuman acts” against the Palestinian populationstates the order.
This marks an important precedent for the ICC, as It is the first instance in the court’s 22-year history to issue arrest warrants against senior Western-allied officials..
In its statement, the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I, a three-judge panel, said it has rejected Israel’s appeals who question their jurisdiction.
Los 124 Member States of the Rome Statute, the treaty that created the Court, They now have the obligation to arrest wanted persons and hand them over to the ICC in The Hague. A trial cannot be started in absentia.
However, the court does not have enforcement powers, but depends on the cooperation of the Member States to arrest and hand over suspects.
The ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, the military chief of Hamas. better known as Mohammed Deif (despite Israeli claims that he was killed in Gaza). The objective of the ICC was seek to “balance the failure” in a kind of theory of the two demons as if they were crimes of equivalent scale. The relationship between genocide and the historical violence of a colonialist and apartheid state like Israel, armed by none other than the United States, the main world power, is incomparable, as is the action led by Hamas as part of the Palestinian resistance, beyond the differences with their methods and their reactionary strategy of installing a theocratic state.
Although The ICC is not recognized by the United States or Israel and is issued on people and not on governments or countries, the order implies a major setback for the international image of Israeli colonialism and genocide which is carried out with the open support of the United States, and the main imperialist countries, as well as the Argentine government of Milei, which defends the massacre of the Palestinian people. First of all, it hits Netanyahu, who could be arrested if he travels outside of Israel, and his government, which has been advancing a war-like policy towards Lebanon, expanding tensions towards the entire region including Iran, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
The chamber stated that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant “intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population of Gaza of objects essential for their survival.”including food, water, medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity, at least from October 8, 2023 to May 20, 2024.”
“This conclusion is based on the role of Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Gallant by preventing humanitarian aid in violation of international humanitarian law and their inability to facilitate assistance by all means at their disposal. “The Chamber concluded that his conduct caused the disruption of the ability of humanitarian organizations to provide food and other essential goods to the needy population in Gaza.”
“Therefore, the House found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Gallant are criminally responsible for the war crime of starvation as a method of war“said the House.
He added that Israeli leaders are accused of crimes against humanity of murder and persecution.
As usual, the Israeli Prime Minister’s office He described the order as “anti-Semitic” of arrest, just as it does with any act that questions genocide open air that has been carried out in Gaza that already claimed the lives of almost 45,000 Palestiniansmostly boys, girls and women, has reduced much of the infrastructure to rubble of the Strip and has forced the displacement of at least 2.3 million inhabitants on the brink of famine, as part of their ethnic cleansing plan.
Source: www.laizquierdadiario.com
