The Israelis and Hamas on Monday both angrily rejected moves to arrest their leaders for war crimes. This is even as calls are continually being made for the International Court Justice to bring the leaders of the war in Gaza to book.
Recall that heavy fighting is still raging on in the Gaza Strip, with heavy casualties being recorded, mostly civilians.
The International Criminal Court’s prosecutor Karim Khan said he had applied for arrest warrants against top Israeli and Hamas leaders over the bloody conflict.
However, Israel has slammed as a “historical disgrace” the demand targeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. On its part, the Palestinian militant group, Hamas said it “strongly condemns” the move.
But Khan, in a statement said, he was seeking warrants against the Israeli leaders for crimes including “willful killing”, “extermination and/or murder” and “starvation”.
Recall that the war began on October 7 attack when Hamas attacked Israel.
But Khan said, Israel had committed “crimes against humanity” as part “of a widespread and systematic attack against the Palestinian civilian population”.
He also said that the leaders of Hamas, including Qatar-based Ismail Haniyeh and Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar, “bear criminal responsibility” for actions committed during the October 7 attack.
These, he said, included “taking hostages”, “rape and other acts of sexual violence” and “torture”.
“International law and the laws of armed conflict apply to all,” he added. “No foot soldier, no commander, no civilian leader – no one – can act with impunity.”
If granted by the ICC judges, the warrants would mean that technically any of the 124 ICC member States would be obliged to arrest Netanyahu and the others if they travelled there. But the court has no mechanism to enforce its warrants.
Nearly two weeks ago, Israel defied international opposition and sent troops into Rafah. The zone is crowded with civilians and which the army has described as the last Hamas stronghold.
Recall that Netanyahu has vowed to keep fighting Hamas in Gaza until the Iran-backed Islamist group is defeated. He vowed to make sure that all the remaining hostages are released.
With the war raging on in areas of Rafah near the Egyptian border since early May, the UN said more than 810,000 Palestinians have fled the city.
Witnesses told AFP that Israeli naval forces had also struck Rafah, and medics reported an air strike on a residential building in the city’s west.
The army said Israeli troops were “conducting targeted raids on terrorist infrastructure” in eastern Rafah where they had found “dozens of tunnel shafts”.
Gallant said Monday he had told visiting US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan of “Israel’s duty to expand the ground operation in Rafah, to dismantle Hamas and to return the hostages”.
source: AFP