As promised, the International Criminal Court (ICC) is moving forward with plans to arrest not just Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but also the leaders of Hamas who were behind the October 7 attack.
The ICC says there are "reasonable grounds to believe" that Netanyahu and the others committed "war crimes and crimes against humanity" both in Gaza and in Israel.
Karim Khan revealed that the ICC is in hot pursuit of Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, which commands the military wing of Hamas, and Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, the chief of Hamas' Political Bureau Ismail Haniyeh.
Netanyahu and Gallant in particular are accused of unleashing targeted attacks on civilians in Gaza, which resulted in the willful killing and intentional suffering of innocent people, including through "extermination," "murder" and "inhumane acts."
The Hamas leaders that the ICC wants to arrest also "bear criminal responsibility" for various "inhuman acts" including rape, sexual violence, taking hostages and murder.
(Related: Israel just congratulated itself for setting a "new gold standard" in avoiding civilian casualties.)
Will it work?
Israel continues to scoff at the ICC, of which it is not a member, nor does it recognize the court's jurisdiction. However, back in 2015, the State of Palestine joined the organization.
Even so, if Netanyahu and the others step foot inside any of the court's 124 member states, they will be required to arrest these wanted criminals.
Despite being a centrist member of Israel's three-person war cabinet, Benny Gantz is just as outraged as other Israeli leaders about the ICC's efforts to hold them all accountable for crimes against humanity.
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That the ICC is trying to arrest Israeli leaders at all is "a crime of historic proportions," Gantz said, adding that Israel is waging "one of the just wars fought in modern history.
Compared to Israel, Hamas and the people of Gaza represent "a deep distortion of justice and blatant moral bankruptcy," Gantz further said, patting himself and his country on the back for their war in the Gaza Strip.
Bezalel Smotrich, Israel's far-right finance minister, minced his words even less.
"We have not seen such a show of hypocrisy and hatred of Jews like that displayed by the court in the Hague since Nazi propaganda," Smotrich snarled.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, another right-wing Israeli cabinet member who works in national security, urged Netanyahu and Gallant to simply "ignore the antisemitic prosecutor and order a stepped-up assault against Hamas until they are completely destroyed."
In an attempt to stop the ICC from moving any further towards justice, a group of U.S. Republican lawmakers schemed up a plan for sanctions against the UN court.
"Yet again the Zionists have made themselves the victims, harping back to those awful times of WWII," one commenter at RT wrote.
"The world is tired of their whining 'poor us' – just look at the state of Gaza for goodness' sake. Go and smell it and look at those poor innocents rotting under the rubble."
Another complained that Hamas, in his opinion, should not be included in the arrest warrant issuance because Hamas is simply "fighting against the occupation and 70+ years of repression" – again, this is someone's opinion.
"Hamas is defending the people it represents as per UN charter," this person added. "They put a warrant on President Putin immediately after the start of the Ukraine military operation. They are a joke to the world and now everyone can see."
"International law stipulates that armed resistance against an occupying power is lawful, despite the bombardment of rape and death threats the ICC judges receive from Israel," wrote another.
Israel is about to face a rude awakening. Learn more at IsraelCollapse.com.
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