Nothing stops the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu. This is what he wanted to express after learning of the arrest warrant that International Criminal Court (CPI) has issued against him, his former Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallantand the head of Hamas’s military wing, Mohammed Deif. “The decision anti-Semitic of the International Criminal Court is a modern Dreyfus trial [un icónico caso de antisemitismo en pleno siglo XIX en Francia] and it will end the same way,” his office said in a statement. For their part, the Netherlands and France have said that they will comply with the arrest warrant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, while the massacres perpetrated by the Israeli Army continue there.
“Israel flatly rejects the false and absurd accusations of the ICC, a partial and discriminatory political body,” reads the statement, repeating the same accusations leveled against any international organization that condemns its actions in the Strip. “No war is more just than the one that Israel has waged in Gaza since October 7, 2023, when the terrorist organization Hamas launched a murderous attack and perpetrated the largest massacre against the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” adds the text published this Thursday afternoon. “No decision against Israel will prevent the State of Israel from defending its citizens; Netanyahu will not give in to pressure and will continue to pursue all the objectives that Israel has set out to achieve in its just war against Hamas and the Iranian axis of terror,” he concludes.
The president of Israel, Isaac Herzoghas also joined the criticism. “The decision has chosen the side of terror and evil over democracy and freedom, and has turned the justice system itself into a human shield for Hamas crimes against humanity,” he wrote on his ‘X’ account. At the same time as that of Netanyahu and Gallant, the ICC has published another separate arrest warrant against Mohammed Deif for his involvement in October 7. Deif, who is presumed dead by Hebrew authorities, has been charged with war crimes for taking hostages and acts of sexual violence, and five with crimes against humanity, including extermination and murder. Previously the prosecutor had requested the arrest of Hamas leaders Ismael Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwarkilled in Israeli attacks.
“Sovereignty in Judea and Samaria”
Itamar Ben Gvirthe far-right politician in charge of the Ministry of National Security in Netanyahu’s cabinet, has given his support to the prime minister in “his just war.” “The answer to arrest warrants: the application of sovereignty over all the territories of Judea and Samaria [nombres usados por las autoridades israelíes para referirse a la Cisjordania ocupada]he settlement in all parts of the country and the breaking of ties with the terrorist authority, including sanctions,” he said in ‘X’. This decision makes Netanyahu and Gallant suspects wanted internationally and will likely further isolate them and complicate efforts to negotiate a ceasefire, although its practical implications will be limitedsince neither Tel Aviv nor Washington are members of the ICC.
Around the world, several countries have spoken out. The spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Christophe Lemoinehas stated that France will act “in accordance with the ICC statutes” but has refused to confirm whether France would arrest Netanyahu if he arrived in the country, saying it was “legally complex.” For his part, his Dutch counterpart, Caspar Veldkamphas said that his country “respects the independence of the court.” “We will not maintain non-essential contacts and we will act based on arrest warrants,” he added. The Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris has declared that the orders constitute “an extremely significant step.”
Massacres in Gaza
“This decision is binding and all States parties to the tribunal, including all members of the European Unionthey are obliged to implement this judicial decision,” recalled the high official of EU Foreign Policy, Joseph Borrell. But this ICC decision has not prevented the Israeli Army from continuing to commit massacres in the Strip from Gaza. In the north, Tel Aviv has unleashed a series of airstrikes that have killed at least 88 personasincluding many children while they were sleeping. Some 66 Palestinians have been killed in an attack on Thursday morning in a residential neighborhood in Beit Lahiya. After, 22 othersincluding a dozen children, have perished in the Israeli bombardment of the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City.
In these almost 14 months of fierce war against the Palestinian enclave, Israel has killed 44,065 Palestinians and injured 104,286. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, decisions are made that facilitate the perpetuation of violence. On the one hand, Washington has vetoed a resolution of the Security Council of the United Nations calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. On the other hand, shortly after, the United States Senate has rejected a proposal to block arms shipments to Israel. The special envoy of President Joe Biden’s administration, Amos Hochsteinis currently in Israel to discuss a truce in Lebanon, where Hebrew violence has killed 3,558 people.
