GAZA May 20. 2024 (Saba) - Salama Marouf, the head of the government media office in the Gaza Strip, welcomed today the decision by International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gantz.
The warrants were issued for their involvement in genocide, aggression, and crimes against humanity against the Palestinian people.
Marouf, in a statement quoted by the Palestinian Media Center, said "We see the issuance of these warrants as a legal step in the right direction, albeit belated."
He noted that they came after numerous demands and pleas and the provision of hundreds of pieces of evidence to the court regarding the crimes committed by the Israeli army under direct political directives since October 7th.
He emphasized that this step needs to be fulfilled by issuing warrants for arrest and summons against all responsible individuals, both political and military, from the occupying authorities who gave the orders, and the soldiers who participated in committing the crimes according to the Rome Statute, the court's founding document.
Marouf criticized the fact that this move coincides with similar decisions against some Palestinian leaders, "in a scene where the court equates between the victim and the aggressor."
He pointed out that this action by the court was taken without clarifying the legal basis and relying solely on allegations propagated by the occupation in its narrative about the events of October 7th, the majority of which have been proven false and fabricated.
He added the prosecutor thereby violated the rules of investigation and legal verification, and exceeded the international conventions and United Nations resolutions that granted the Palestinian people and all peoples under occupation the right to resist their occupiers in all forms, including armed resistance, especially the UN Charter as stipulated in Article 51.
Marouf called on the prosecutor of the court to reconsider his decision against Palestinian leaders and to cancel the arrest warrants issued against them.
H.H
resource : Saba
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