Palestinians hail ICC arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant over Gaza war crimes

By Awad Rjoub and Mohamed Majed

RAMALLAH/GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – Palestinians have welcomed arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip.

Israel has launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip following a Hamas attack last year, killing more than 44,000 people, most of them women and children, and injuring over 104,000.

The second year of genocide in Gaza has drawn growing international condemnation, with figures and institutions labeling the attacks and blocking of aid deliveries as a deliberate attempt to destroy a population.

"The issuance of arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant is a ray of hope to halt Israel's genocidal crimes in Gaza,” Wasil Abu Yousef, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)’s Executive Committee, told Anadolu.

"Today, there is hope to end these crimes and stop this war,” he added.

The Palestinian official said that although long overdue, the court’s decision “came to obstruct the Israeli occupation’s crimes," calling it "exceptionally important."

“The ruling came in response to a genocidal war waged by the occupation against the Palestinian people, characterized by systematic destruction, the killing of children, women, and civilians in Gaza, and the fragmentation of the occupied West Bank,” he said.

“Over 100 countries that are members of the court understand their role well, and they are expected to adopt a series of decisions to pursue and prevent war criminals from entering their territories,” concluded the official.

- ‘Victory for justice’

Palestinian group Fatah called the ICC arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant "a brave step.”

"The ICC decision is a brave step to confront the grave crimes and violations committed by the occupation government against our Palestinian people,” Fatah spokesperson Abdul Fattah Douleh said in a statement.

He termed the ICC verdict "a victory for international justice and human rights.”

“The policy of impunity is no longer viable in the face of the will of the people and international judicial institutions,” he added.

Palestinian resistance group Hamas also hailed the ICC arrest warrants as a “precedent” to correct “historical injustice” against the Palestinian people.

"This step, which the US administration tried to obstruct for months by intimidating the court and its judges, represents an important historical precedent and a correction of a long path of historical injustice against our people,” it said in a statement.

- Accountability

Hamas called on the ICC to "expand the scope of accountability to include criminal leaders of the occupation, its ministers, and officers who have committed the most heinous crimes of killing and starvation against our Palestinian people."

The movement also urged all countries to cooperate with the court in prosecuting Israeli war criminals and to work toward halting genocidal crimes against civilians in Gaza.

In this context, Mustafa Barghouti, Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative, demanded the ICC “expedite its ruling on Israel's genocide in Gaza."

"Many Western governments must arrest Netanyahu and Gallant following the ICC decision and must choose between their disgraceful bias toward Israel and their respect for international law and the charter of the ICC they signed,” Barghouti added.

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its deadly war on Gaza.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala