Al-Azhar hails ICC arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant as historic step

Ahram Online , Saturday 23 Nov 2024

Al-Azhar Observatory for Combating Extremism hailed Saturday the International Criminal Court's (ICC) issuance of arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, describing it as a historic step.

A Palestinian holds a child killed in the Israeli bombardment in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip. Photo: A
A Palestinian holds a child killed in the Israeli bombardment in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip. Photo: AP

 

The observatory, the monitoring unit of the world's leading Sunni Islamic authority Al-Azhar, said such a step demands international efforts to restore the Palestinian people's rights and ensure accountability for the perpetrators who inflicted the atrocities of genocide on defenceless civilians.

On Thursday, the ICC issued arrest warrants for both Israeli officials, who have led the genocidal war against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza war.

The ICC cited the Israeli mass killing of civilians and blockade of humanitarian aid to 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza as reasons for issuing its arrest warrants.

Since October 2023, Israel has killed and injured nearly 150,000 Palestinians, mostly children and women, damaged most of Gaza's residential units and infrastructure, and displaced the majority of the population.

It further emphasized that this historic decision places member states under a legal obligation to enforce the warrants and implement the orders of arrest in light of the ongoing massacres, war crimes, and acts of genocide committed in the Gaza Strip and beyond.

These acts include the systematic use of methods of torture and violations aimed at breaking the Palestinian people's resilience and forcing them to yield to a relentless military machine, the statement said.

This military strategy has ravaged the land and spared no corner of Gaza, targeting everything as part of a "scorched-earth" policy aimed at obliterating life and systematically displacing Palestinians from their homes and lands.

Furthermore, the observatory stressed that the ICC's decision should be approached not only from its legal foundation but also with moral and humanitarian considerations.

While not all nations are ICC members, the enforcement of its decision requires concerted international efforts and a collective commitment to prevent the recurrence of such crimes and genocides.

The statement stressed that "international solidarity must transcend mere rhetoric of condemnation and denunciation and translate into tangible actions that restore hope for oppressed populations."

Moreover, the observatory said the ICC's decision coincides with the recent celebration of the World Children's Day—a stark contrast to the reality of Palestinian children, who face grave violations that strip them of their childhood and dreams.

These children endure the oppression of occupation forces on their streets and are deprived of fundamental rights to education, health, security, and even life itself, the observatory said.

"Enforcing the decision would safeguard what remains of the rule of law in the international order and send a clear message to occupying terrorists that their crimes will not go unpunished," it added.

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