Rights groups urge execution of ICC arrest warrants against Netanyahu, Gallant over Gaza war crimes
A group of international human rights organizations have called for the execution of arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Zionist regime’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant for war crimes perpetrated in the course of the Gaza genocidal war.
The organizations, namely al-Karama for Human Rights – Geneva, Torture Victims Association – Geneva, al-Shabaka Center for Human Rights – London, Free Voice for Human Rights – Paris, EFDD International Organization – Belgium, Adalah Foundation for Human Rights – Istanbul and Solidarity for Human Rights – Geneva, in a joint statement released on the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People appealed for the measure against Israeli officials due to their responsibility for the appalling atrocities in the coastal sliver.
The rights groups highlighted their support for the measures put forth by The Hague-based tribunal in the case brought against Israel, urging the swift implementation of the arrest warrants targeting Israeli leaders for war crimes, such as employing starvation as a weapon of war, alongside crimes against humanity, including intentional killing, persecution, and other acts of inhumanity.
The organizations emphasized that lasting peace is unattainable without fully ending the occupation, and bringing Israeli officials to justice for their actions.
The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People comes at a time when Gaza is experiencing a fragile ceasefire, which has not yet ended the humanitarian catastrophe affecting more than two million people in the territory, the groups added.
The organizations highlighted that the residents of Gaza remain without access to basic necessities like food, water, healthcare, electricity, and shelter while hundreds of thousands have been left homeless as entire neighborhoods were demolished by Israeli airstrikes.
The rights organizations also stressed that solidarity and symbolic gestures are no longer sufficient given the ongoing Israeli occupation and the Tel Aviv regime’s oppressive policies, which remain the primary cause of the Palestinian people's suffering.
They noted that the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People serves as a global appeal to reaffirm the moral and legal responsibility toward a population enduring one of the most severe occupations, acts of violence, and blockades for decades.
The organizations stressed that genuine solidarity starts with denouncing violations, actively striving to end impunity, and supporting the Palestinians' right to establish an independent state that covers the entire Palestinian territories, with al-Quds as its capital.
Underlining that the situation in Gaza since October 2023 constitutes a total genocide under the definition outlined in the 1948 Genocide Convention, they called for immediate and decisive international intervention, demanding that all governments and international entities exert pressure on Israeli authorities to adhere to international humanitarian law, stop targeting civilians, and enable the prompt and unrestricted entry of humanitarian aid and rescue teams into Gaza.
Since October 2023, the Zionist regime’s army has martyred over 70,100 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and injured at least 170,900 others in a two-year war in Gaza that has reduced much of the coastal sliver to rubble.
The onslaught has also led to the widespread destruction of homes and civilian infrastructure, creating a dire situation for the territory’s surviving inhabitants.