- Karim Khan said: ‘You can’t have as a common plan collective punishment’
The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has accused Israel of ‘collectively punishing’ Palestinians in Gaza.
In his first comments since Karim Khan asked judged to approve arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant and three top Hamas leaders Mr Khan yesterday condemned Israel’s deliberate targeting of civilians.
‘You can’t have as a common plan collective punishment,’ he told The Times.
‘It’s absolutely legitimate for Israel to have the objective to defeat Hamas and to get hostages out, I support that. But the way you engage must be compliant with law.’
He cited Israel’s targeting of bakeries and wells, suspension of water, electricity and food from Gaza and killing of aid workers and people queuing for refuge as factors in his decision.
In his first comments since Karim Khan (pictured) asked judged to approve arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant and three top Hamas leaders Mr Khan yesterday condemned Israel’s deliberate targeting of civilians
Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant (pictured) was also named in the ICC announcement last Monday, as well as three IDF leaders
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defense minister Yoav Gallant during a press conference in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv , Israel , 28 October 2023
Relatives mourn near the body of 16-year-old Palestinian Lama Abu Salah, killed during the Israeli attacks on the town of Abasan al-Kabira, after the body is brought to Gaza European Hospital in Khan Yunis, Gaza on May 26, 2024
Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant was also named in the ICC announcement last Monday, as well as three IDF leaders.
The arrest warrants, which were made in consultation with a panel of lawyers including Amal Clooney and Israeli-American judge Theodor Meron, mark the first time a sitting western-backed leader has been targeted by the court.
While acknowledging that civilian casualties are often unavoidable in war,
The British barrister said he recently used the UK’s restraint during The Troubles as an example of how Israel should have behaved during its bombing campaign on Gaza.
Despite a number of assassinations attempts, bombings and kneecappings carried out by the IRA, he explained, Britain never simply decided to drop a 2,000lb bomb on Falls Road – potentially taking out several IRA members or Republican sympathisers but killing many more civilians.
‘You can’t do that,’ he explained, adding that law is that which separates states from terrorists.
Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh have also been accused of extermination, murder, taking of hostages and rape and sexual assault in detention by the ICC.
If approved by the ICC judges, all five men will be subject to arrest as soon as they step foot in one of the court’s 124 member states. Israel and the US are not members.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk