ARREST NETANYAHU - ICC

Finally the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant against Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for “war crimes”. It said that there were “reasonable grounds” to believe that the two “bear criminal responsibility for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare.” And that they had intentionally deprived Gaza’s civilians of food, water, medicine, medical supplies and fuel and electricity.”

President Joe Biden leading the US, the supposed champion of democracy, has denounced this as “outrageous”, underling yet again his support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza. The tottering President has been steadfast in protecting and nurturing Netanyahu and his violent regime as they carry out the worst possible atrocities against innocent people — the list including the worst kind of crimes imaginable. Children were set on fire on their hospital beds; women blown up with their babies in their arms; men shot at point blank range over and over again; arrests and hideous torture leading to the death of young people including teenagers; a genocide being potrayed through videos and yet making little to no impact on governments like Biden’s and people like those now surrounding President-elect Donald Trump who want the Palestinians mowed over.

The ICC ruling thus is welcome to those who still believe in humanity although it has come so late in the day, over a year after the Israel attack began and grew more ferocious and ugly in its intensity. And it will impact on Netanyahu who will not be able to travel to several countries for fear of arrest. It reduces his moral stature, brings him closer to becoming a pariah in the civilised world, and even though Washington continues to support him he will lose the lustre of global support and applause. This is not big in itself, given the fact that one would have expected a humane and civilised world to have stopped the man shortly after he started the genocide, but given the impunity with which he had been surrounded thanks to Washington, the ICC arrest warrant is a major step.

Canada, France, the Netherlands and Italy have said that they will support the ICC and abide by international law. The UK has made clear its respect for the independence of the ICC with Prime Minister Keith Starmer who has never really stood up for the Palestinians, shying away from the “we will arrest Netanyahu if required” approach of the other countries. South Africa that has been leading the charge has of course, welcomed and supported the decision by the ICC.

Interestingly, the European Union has shown no such reticence with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, saying to reporters in Amman That the ICC’s decision “has to be respected and implemented.” “This decision is a binding decision on all state parties of the court, which includes all members of the European Union,” he said. It is indeed binding for all the countries that are members of the ICC despite the positions taken by the US, and countries like Argentina and Hungary who have condemned the Court’s decision.

The ICC has also issued an arrest warrant against Hamas commander Mohammed Deif, who the Israeli military claimed to have killed as far back as July. This has not gone down well in the West Asian region and Hamas in its response has referred only to the arrest warrants against the Israeli leaders with a spokesperson maintaining, “A message must be sent to every war criminal that he will not escape punishment regardless of how long it will take, and no matter how much he tries to mislead people or distort the narrative, truth will prevail.” Turkey and Jordan have openly welcomed the move as has the Palestinian Authority calling for the implementation of the ICC ruling.

There is no doubt that Netanyahu, with Biden’s support, will double the intensity of his military attack on the Palestinians who are being exterminated. Gaza has been destroyed, over a million killed and wounded, with starvation and disease killing thousands more. Inhumanity is on full display in Gaza, with Israeli soldiers killing and raping at will. One has seen videos of young people being shot for fun, maimed and killed by Israeli soldiers for doing little more than standing or walking or sitting outside their homes. The suffering and the grief is harrowing, the sheer terror on the faces of the women and children as they come under act exposing the perpetrators of this violence as inhuman and barbaric to put it very mildly.

The Arabs delayed response is also responsible for this, with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries sinking back into their indifference and dislike for the Palestinians. These countries have always turned a blind eye to the harrowing attacks on the Palestinians since 1948 really, ignoring the Nakba, the wars and ensuring they gave no help whatsoever to the Palestinians, not even when Yasser Arafat was in charge. In fact the only support – and minimal support at that– came in the region from Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey and Jordan at fleeting intervals. Most of these countries have been destroyed or taken over on one pretext or the other over the decades, thereby isolating the Palestinians from their own further.

It is no secret within Israel – thanks to the presence of scholars and journalists who still believe in rights and humanity – that Netanyahu will be in deep trouble the day he ends the war. He needs it to keep himself and his government afloat, and is in no mood to stop as long as the Americans continue to supply the weapons and protect him from retribution. Biden in his last days, and as a lame duck President, has glued himself to a ‘finish Gaza’ policy and it is likely that his successor will try and accelerate the process. Perhaps even extend it further into the West Bank to start with. While Trump himself carries the signature of unpredictability he has taken care to surround himself to Zionist lovers who will in all probability follow their tattoos into the battlefields of genocide.

Governments that have supported the ICC decision will need to apply pressure for the implementation of the ICC verdict. Students in America who have taken the lead for humanity will need to double the protest but Trump’s threats to stop free speech and action is bound to come in the way. More than it has under Biden although his administration too has encouraged university campuses to crack down on protesting students with a conscience.

But the victory for the cause cannot be undermined. The ICC decision has brought about a shift in the global legal environment. Cries of ‘arrest Netanyahu’ are becoming shouts, as the crusaders for peace and justice — political and civilian— are now able to raise their voices with authority. Even as videos come in as one writes, about Palestinian parents sitting over the dead bodies of their small children and continuing airstrikes that are wiping entire families, the calls for the Israeli PM’s arrest also resonate on the ground. Even as children and adults struggle for a drop of water or a piece of bread in Gaza, destitute and hurting, justice has finally started staring Netanyahu and his cronies in the face.

The end game has begun.