6/20/2024–|Last updated: 6/20/202411:40 PM (Mecca time)
The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) said on Thursday that it is currently preparing a legal memorandum in which it responds to what it considered false accusations from the International Criminal Court against three of its senior leaders.
On May 20, the Prosecutor of the Criminal Court, Karim Khan, announced that the court was seeking to issue two arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Yoav Galant, on charges of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip.
At that time, Khan said – in a statement – that the arrest warrants would also include the head of the Hamas movement in Gaza, Yahya Al-Sinwar, the head of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, and the commander of the Martyr Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades – the military wing of the Hamas movement – Muhammad Al-Deif.
For its part, Hamas said that it is currently working on preparing a comprehensive legal memorandum, in which it responds to all the false accusations contained in Khan’s statement regarding Sinwar, Haniyeh, and Deif.
The Palestinian movement stressed that “Khan’s statement was full of inaccuracies and errors, and bias in favor of the occupying state, which is practicing genocide against our people in Gaza, in addition to the crimes of the occupation army and herds of settlers in the West Bank and the occupied city of Jerusalem.”
She added, “Khan began his steps by empathizing with the Israeli victims (of the October 7, 2023 attacks) and their families, and he visited them and listened to them in their settlements, while he did not show any sympathy for our people who are still suffering from genocide, siege, and starvation.”
She pointed out that the number of martyrs and wounded (as a result of the Israeli war on Gaza) has so far reached more than 120,000 civilians, in addition to the destruction of more than 70% of the buildings and institutions of the Gaza Strip and the targeting of the health and education sector in particular.
Khan’s “mistakes”.
Hamas considered that “Khan made a mistake when he considered that the Zionist entity has the right to defend itself like other countries, forgetting that the greatest crime from which all tragedies stem is the occupation, which is considered a crime in international norms and laws.”
She said, “Our people have the right – and even their duty – to resist the occupation by all possible means, including armed resistance, which is something recognized by international laws, and ignored by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.”
Hamas also considered, “Khan also made a mistake when he considered that the history of the conflict began on October 7, forgetting more than 76 years of occupation and the massacres to which our people were subjected.”
She continued, “We would like to remind Mr. Attorney General that the occupation has imposed a deadly siege on the Gaza Strip since 2006, and has also launched 4 devastating wars during the past years against our people in Gaza. Therefore, the Secretary-General of the United Nations (Antonio Guterres) said: The events of October 7 did not… “It comes out of nowhere.”
In this regard, the movement confirmed that Khan obtained his information about the events of October 7 from “misleading occupation media sources, which lack the lowest levels of professionalism and credibility.”
Amid a stifling Israeli siege on Gaza for 18 years, and Israel’s escalation of its violations against Al-Aqsa Mosque, Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, launched a surprise attack on Israeli military sites and settlements adjacent to the Strip on October 7, during which they captured about 239 people.
Hamas added, “Khan believed the occupation’s allegations of the existence of a plan for systematic sexual assaults, but the occupation was unable to provide a single piece of evidence for it.”
She continued, “It is horrifying that Khan repeated these accusations (in his statement) and attributed them to the movement’s leadership. He also repeated the occupation’s allegations of torture, genocide, and other lies.”
Hamas considered that “Khan’s bias appeared in a scandalous manner when he brought accusations and requested an arrest warrant against the head of the movement’s political bureau (Ismail Haniyeh), a political figure who resides outside Gaza. He paid a heavy price like all our people, when the criminal occupation targeted and killed his children and grandchildren.” .
She pointed out that Khan neglected (in return) to bring any accusations against the Israeli Chief of Staff (Herzi Halevy), who issues orders for all killing, destruction and genocide operations (in Gaza), and appears frequently in the field.
Hamas concluded its statement by emphasizing that it will fight to achieve justice and victory for its people.
She considered that the Public Prosecutor and the International Criminal Court are facing a historic test of their credibility, and that the world needs true equality and complete justice away from the hegemony and influence of the major powers and the arrogance and control of power.
Since last October 7, Israel has been waging a war on Gaza that has left more than 123,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, in addition to thousands missing.
Israel continues its war despite a decision by the UN Security Council to stop it immediately, and orders from the International Court of Justice to end the invasion of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, and to take measures to prevent acts of genocide and improve the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.