Gaza media office calls on Int'l Criminal Court to condemn Israeli minister's remarks

By Mohammed Majed

GAZA, Palestine (AA) - The head of the Media Office in Gaza urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Sunday to include a call by the Israeli heritage minister for dropping a nuclear bomb on the Gaza Strip as evidence of Israel's crimes.

“We call on the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to include this audacious and outrageous statement as evidence of the occupier's acknowledgment of committing and inciting crimes,” said Salam Marouf in a statement viewed by Anadolu.

“We hope to see a practical and concrete effort from the international legal system that leads to seeing these killers in the dock to receive fair punishment for their horrifying crimes,” Marouf said.

Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu said earlier in the day that “one of Israel’s options in the war in Gaza is to drop a nuclear bomb on the Strip,” The Times of Israel reported.

Eliyahu's remarks drew anger from the Israeli opposition and families of Israeli hostages held by the Palestinian group Hamas, with growing calls for his dismissal. However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has only suspended his participation in government meetings.

Eliyahu belongs to the far-right extremist Otzma Yehudit party led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. The party supports the construction of Jewish settlements and the reassertion of control over the Gaza Strip and espouses an extremist ideology.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala