New Delhi:
The International Criminal Court (ICC)’s transfer to problem arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence minister Yoav Gallant is a “darkish second” for the court docket, which acted “with out authority” and set a “harmful precedent”, Israel’s Ambassador to India Reuven Azar mentioned on Thursday.
In an announcement, Mr Azar alleged the world court docket in The Hague is “serving as a political device for essentially the most excessive parts working towards peace, safety and stability in West Asia”. The choice to problem the warrants weakens the potential of reaching a ceasefire cope with these searching for Israel’s destruction, he mentioned.
The remarks got here hours after ICC issued the warrants of arrest for the 2 Israeli leaders for “crimes towards humanity and battle crimes dedicated from at the least 8 October 2023 till at the least 20 May 2024”. The court docket additionally issued the same warrant for Hamas navy chief Mohammed Deif.
Israel mentioned in early August it had killed Deif in an air strike in southern Gaza in July, however Hamas has not confirmed his demise. Israel is presently engaged in a battle with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The ICC has no energy to implement its warrants however technically, any nation that has signed the Rome Statute – a treaty that seeks to prosecute people accused of genocide, crimes towards humanity, battle crimes and crimes of aggression – can be obliged to arrest Mr Netanyahu, Mr Gallant, or Mr Deif, in the event that they travelled there.
“The ICC acted with out authority towards the elected leaders of a democracy which isn’t a member of the court docket. It’s a harmful precedent,” Mr Azar mentioned.
“These are warrants directed not solely personally towards our leaders. In reality, that is an assault on Israel’s proper to defend itself. The choice is an ethical deficiency that turns good into unhealthy and serves evil. The choice harms the power of a democracy to combat terrorism,” he added.
Mr Azar additionally mentioned that the world court docket “utterly ignores Israel’s actions in keeping with worldwide regulation to facilitate humanitarian help to the Palestinian needy inhabitants and its excellent actions to minimise civilian casualties regardless of despicable techniques utilized by the terrorists, together with utilizing civilians as human shields.”
“As a democracy, Israel has a powerful authorized system that’s succesful, ready and keen to examine the actions of its authorities. We name all our pals to publicly reject this injustice,” he mentioned.
On October 7 final yr, Hamas militants carried out a cross-border raid on Israel that killed 1,206 folks, largely civilians, in keeping with an AFP tally of Israeli official figures. Israel has since then been combating a battle in Gaza, which the militant group guidelines.
Israel, nonetheless, has confronted rising worldwide criticism over its conduct of the Gaza battle, together with from its allies, regardless of international solidarity with the victims of October 7.
The Hamas authorities’s well being ministry within the Gaza Strip mentioned on Thursday that at the least 44,056 folks have been killed in additional than 13 months of battle.
Hezbollah, the highly effective Iran-backed Lebanese militant group, started firing rockets into Israel in October final yr in acknowledged help of Hamas.
After practically a yr of restricted exchanges of fireplace on the Israel-Lebanon border, Israel in September this yr intensified its air strikes primarily focusing on Hezbollah strongholds and later despatched floor troops into Lebanon.