FALCON POWERS – Maldives President Mohamed Solih said on Monday that no state is above international law, and stressed the need to “hold accountable those who commit war crimes in the Occupied Palestinian Territories”.
This came in the context of Solih welcoming the request by International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan to issue arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the Maldives President described Karim Khan’s request to issue arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant as an “important step in the pursuit of justice for the Palestinian people”.
He added, “No state is above international law, and those who commit war crimes in the Occupied Palestinian Territories must be held accountable.”
Solih said, “As a state party to the Rome Statute, we are confident that the Office of the Prosecutor has collected sufficient evidence to prove that Israel has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.”
He concluded his remarks by saying, “We will explore all avenues to support the Palestinian people on the international stage.”
Earlier today, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan announced in a statement that they are seeking arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and 3 Hamas leaders on charges of committing “war crimes”.
The alleged Israeli crimes included “using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare as a war crime” and “willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health”, “willful killing”, and “intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as a war crime”, as well as “extermination and/or murder”, according to the statement.
Since October 7 last year, Israel has been waging a war on Gaza, which has left around 115,000 between dead and injured, mostly children and women, and about 10,000 missing, amid massive destruction and famine that has claimed the lives of children and the elderly.
Israel continues the war despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire, and despite the International Court of Justice calling on it to take immediate measures to prevent genocide and improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
The closure of the enclave’s crossings has increased the suffering of its 2.3 million Palestinian residents, with around 2 million of them forced to flee in disastrous conditions, amid severe shortages of water, food and medicine.
