The supreme leader of Iran, which backs the Hamas and Hezbollah militants fighting Israel in Gaza and Lebanon, said on Monday that death sentences should be issued for Israeli leaders, not arrest warrants.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was commenting on a decision by the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants on Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defence chief and a Hamas leader, Ibrahim Al-Masri.
“They issued an arrest warrant, that’s not enough... Death sentence must be issued for these criminal leaders”, Khamenei said, referring to the Israeli leaders.
In their decision, the ICC judges said there were grounds to believe Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant were responsible for acts including murder, persecution and starvation as a weapon of war as part of a “widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza”.
The decision was met with outrage in Israel, which called it shameful and absurd. Gaza residents expressed hope it would help end the violence and bring those responsible for war crimes to justice.
Israel has rejected the jurisdiction of the Hague-based court and denies war crimes in Gaza.
The warrant for a Hamas leader, Ibrahim Al-Masri, lists charges of mass killings during the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel that triggered the war on Gaza, and also charges of rape and the taking of hostages. Israel has said it killed Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif, in an airstrike in July.
Truce meeting
A senior Israeli official said on Monday Israel’s cabinet would meet on Tuesday to approve a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah, and a Lebanese official said Beirut had been told by
Washington that an accord could be announced “within hours”.
Israeli officials had said earlier that a deal to end the war was getting closer though some issues remained, while two senior Lebanese officials voiced guarded optimism even as Israeli strikes pounded Lebanon anew.
US news website Axios, citing an unnamed senior US official, said Israel and Lebanon had agreed to the terms of a deal, and a senior Israeli official told Reuters Tuesday’s meeting was intended to approve it.
