Colombian leader urges US to enforce ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has expressed his support for the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling the decision “logical” and urging US authorities to help enforce it.

“This is a logical decision. Netanyahu is genocide,” he stressed in his post on X, formerly Twitter, per Caliber.Az.

He further stated that if US President Joe Biden ignores the ICC's ruling, “he will simply lead the world to barbarism,” adding that "Western Europe must restore its independence in international politics and act in accordance with the court's ruling.”

Esto es lo lógico. Netanyahu es un genocida. El tribunal de justicia del mundo lo dice y se debe acatar su fallo

Si Biden desconoce esta orden, simplemente conduce al mundo a la barbarie.

Europa occidental debe recobrar su independencia en la política internacional y actuar… https://t.co/UUJ31oQofi

— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) November 21, 2024

The ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Palestine. According to the court, there are "reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Netanyahu, born on October 21, 1949, Prime Minister of Israel at the time of the relevant act, and Mr. Gallant, born on November 8, 1958, Minister of Defence of Israel at the time of the alleged act, are criminally responsible for the following crimes as accomplices for acts committed in concert with others: the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.” 

The ICC also stated that both leaders were criminally responsible as civilian superiors for directing an attack on a civilian population.

However, Netanyahu's office and other Israeli officials have strongly condemned the ICC's decision. Dmitry Gendelman, an adviser to Netanyahu, shared his perspective on the ruling in a post on his Telegram channel. He said, “Today, the ICC decided to ignore Tel Aviv's evidence and arguments and actually sided with the war in the region unleashed by the Iranian regime against Israel.”

Israeli President Isaac Herzog also criticized the ICC's decision, calling it "unjust and outrageous." He described it as “A black day for justice. A black day for humanity. The unfair, outrageous decision of the ICC has turned universal justice into a universal mockery. It mocks the sacrifices of all those fighting for justice, from the Allied victory over the Nazis to today.”

The ICC's ruling comes amid increasing tensions in the region. The court issued the warrants in connection with alleged actions during the ongoing conflict in Gaza, accusing Netanyahu and Gallant of deliberately directing attacks against civilians, particularly the use of starvation as a method of warfare.

In addition to the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, the ICC also demanded the arrest of Mohammed Deif, the commander of Hamas’s military wing. Although Israel has claimed Deif was killed in an airstrike on July 13, the ICC’s request for his arrest remains in effect.

By Tamilla Hasanova