Iran calls on ICC to hold 'Israel' accountable for genocide in Gaza
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During her speech at the session for the Rome Statue, the very treaty that established the ICC, Iran's envoy listed the atrocities committed by "Israel" since October 7 which entail constituting elements of the most serious crimes, namely genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
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Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations, Zahra Ershadi at the United Nations. (United Nations via IRNA)
Iran's Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Zahra Ershadi, spoke at the 22nd Session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute to call on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to hold "Israel" accountable for its atrocities and genocide in Gaza.
"A whole nation that has been subject to oppressive occupation for more than 75 years is on the verge of genocide and extermination," she said, adding, "Every day that passes without accountability, innocent civilians, including children and women, are being killed and slaughtered, with their lands being confiscated and their homes getting destroyed".
Ershadi continued to present the inexplicable data showing the number of martyrs in Gaza that is now over 17,000.
"Half of the enclave is leveled, with no place being spared. Hospitals, mosques, churches, schools, and other purely civilian infrastructures have not been immune, with many hundreds of people being brutally slaughtered inside these places. In fact, no quarter is given."
Read next: 'License To Kill': Why the ICC will never prosecute Netanyahu for Gaza
During her speech at the session for the Rome Statue which is the very treaty that established the ICC, she listed the atrocities committed since October 7 which entail constituting elements of the most serious crimes, namely genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
"This is while, after nearly a decade, the case regarding the 'situation in the State of Palestine for atrocities committed in the occupied Palestinian territory' is open before the ICC without any tangible progress," Ershadi noted.
A string of cases
The diplomat advised the court to practice the same activity and give the same attention to Gaza as it gives to other situations, to avert perceptions of double standards and selective justice, and to also refrain from judicial politicization of the proceedings.
She also blasted "Israel" for the nerve "to continue its atrocity crimes with an absolute sense of comfort."
The Legal Department of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) issued a statement describing the visit of the prosecutor of the ICC, Karim Khan, to "Israel" last week, in a statement, as "biased" and slamming the prosecutor as being "biased toward Israel since taking office."
This comes after Karim Khan paid a visit to "Israel" at the occupation authorities' invitation. Khan urged the occupation, in a video, on Sunday, to respect international rules of war, noting that he was expediting the investigation of "unacceptable" Israeli occupation settlers' violence against Palestinians in occupied Palestine.
Read more: ICC: Prosecutor Karim Khan in Ramallah to meet President Mahmoud Abbas
Five nations - South Africa, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Comoros, and Djibouti - are already calling on the ICC to launch an investigation into "Israel's" indiscriminate war and genocide on Gaza and "the situation in the state of Palestine."
Turkey has also filed a case against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with the ICC accusing him of committing genocide.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro also said that Bogota will support Algeria's case at the International Criminal Court (ICC) over war crimes committed by "Israel".
