ICC must prosecute all involved in Gaza war crimes: Palestine FM

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites
25 Aug 2024 11:04
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Palestine's foreign minister calls for the issuance of arrest warrants against all Israelis involved in war crimes in Gaza.

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Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs Riyad al-Maliki speaks to reporters following a meeting in New York, on Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018.(AP)

The International Criminal Court should issue arrest warrants and prosecute all Israeli officials involved in the war crimes being committed against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said.

Speaking with Sputnik, Al-Maliki said no Israeli official should be spared by the ICC, regardless of their position and status, whether they are government officials, lawmakers, or soldiers, as they have all contributed to the war crimes being committed in Gaza since October.

"I'm not really sparing anyone. I believe that all of them are. All of them are responsible, and the ICC should really issue arrest warrants against all of them," he said.

He also revealed that the ICC possessed incriminating documents and statements "dehumanizing Palestinians" made by Israeli officials, but ruled out that additional arrest warrants would be issued against them.

"I believe that they can always start with the first list, and then they could move to the second, third and continue until putting in prison all these Israeli officials who dared to dehumanize the Palestinians and calling for the death of the Palestinian people."

ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan had requested the issuance of arrest warrants against Prime Minister Netanyahu and his Security Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes in Gaza, as well as three Palestinian Resistance leaders.

While the court was still examining whether it had jurisdiction in a case with no precedents, Khan stressed that the court has jurisdiction to investigate Israelis, urging judges to decide on arrest warrants against the officials without delay.

Pressure for an arms embargo should increase

During the interview with Sputnik, Al-Maliki also discussed the matter of providing arms and military aid to "Israel".

According to the Palestinian top diplomat, pressure should continue mounting on countries providing "Israel" with arms, particularly the United States, adding that more countries would impose an arms embargo on the occupation if the international community continues calling for one.

"If sanctions cannot be imposed, at least it is necessary to stop the sale of weapons to Israel", he said.

Despite calls for an end to arms sales and provisions to "Israel", US Presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris declared that her administration is committed to "Israel's" "defense and security".

A Washington Post report in June found that the US has supplied "Israel" with over $6.5 billion in military supplies dubbed as aid since the beginning of the war on Gaza last October, including nearly $3 billion approved in May.

In its latest show of support for the Israeli occupation, the Biden administration appointed Mira Resnick, a key figure in weapons transfers to "Israel", to a new position at the State Department focused on shaping policy on "Israel" and Palestine.