FALCON POWERS – The Israeli Channel 13 reported that a source close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) issuance of arrest warrants will be a global disgrace.
This comes as the ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan announced on Monday that his office has submitted requests for arrest warrants against Netanyahu, his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Hamas Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas Gaza Leader Yahya Sinwar, and Hamas Military Wing Commander Mohammed Deif, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The ICC Prosecutor said that the charges against Netanyahu and Gallant include the destruction of a human group and using starvation as a method of warfare. He added that what happened on October 7th was also a war crime, and that the three Hamas leaders are criminally responsible for the killing of civilians.
Khan stressed that the law must apply to everyone, and no one can be allowed to escape punishment, even if they are a president. He emphasized the importance of fulfilling our duty impartially and that any attempts to intimidate the court must stop.
In this context, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said that the Hague Prosecutor’s statement equates Netanyahu and Gallant with Hamas leaders, and that sending representatives to the court was a grave mistake. Defense Minister Benny Gantz also considered “putting the leaders of a state fighting to defend its citizens on an equal footing with terrorists as a moral blindness.”