The former UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Palestine, Mike Lynk, confirmed that the request of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, today, Tuesday, to issue urgent arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant is due to the ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity committed inside the Gaza Strip, and described this “urgency” by the Prosecutor as a very important development.
The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said that the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, requested – on Tuesday – the issuance of urgent arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Galant, and the leaders of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif.
In his filing with the court, Khan expressed frustration at the court’s delay in issuing arrest warrants, and urged swift action ahead of Netanyahu’s scheduled speech at the UN General Assembly later this month.
Link said in a statement to Tel Aviv Tribune that the foundations on which the International Criminal Court relies are strong foundations and most experts in international criminal law would agree with that.
He added that the Attorney General was very clear when he submitted the request last May to issue arrest warrants against Netanyahu, Galant and leaders of the Hamas movement, and said at the time that international law must apply to everyone, meaning that the International Criminal Court does not side with one party over another as the Israelis claim.
He ruled out the possibility of anti-Semitism – as Israel claims – in the measures taken by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, and said that Israel, by committing what constitutes genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, faces the possibility of issuing arrest warrants against its leaders, stressing the need to hold accountable the perpetrators of these massacres, which is the purpose of establishing the International Criminal Court.
Regarding the measures expected to be taken by the International Criminal Court, the former UN rapporteur on human rights in Palestine explained that there are 142 member states of the International Criminal Court, including Palestine, which are obligated to arrest those against whom arrest warrants have been issued. Therefore, Netanyahu and his Minister of Defense, as well as the head of the political bureau of Hamas, Sinwar, cannot travel to any of these countries.
He said that all of Europe, Canada, Japan, Australia and other countries would be required to arrest those against whom arrest warrants were issued.
In the same context, Tel Aviv Tribune’s correspondent from Ramallah, Najwan Samri, explained that the demand to expedite the arrest of Netanyahu and his defense minister comes because of the Israeli prime minister’s intention to participate in the General Assembly in New York at the end of this month, noting that these measures have a major impact on Israel, recalling the position of Netanyahu’s office, which said in its response that the court’s prosecutor’s comparison between Netanyahu and Galant on the one hand and Sinwar on the other hand is “anti-Semitism and a moral disgrace,” according to his expression.
For its part, Hamas denounced the arrest warrants against its leaders when the prosecution announced its intention to issue them.