‘Distorting the Truth’ – Gazans React to ICC Chief Prosecutor Decision on Arrest Warrants – Orinoco Tribune – News and opinion pieces about Venezuela and beyond

By Abdallah Aljamal – May 20, 2024

“They should stop this war and prosecute all leaders of the occupation for the continuous bloody war on Gaza for the past eight months,” a Gaza resident said.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor, Karim Khan, announced on Monday that he has submitted applications for arrest warrants against several Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

In his statement, Khan revealed that his team has requested the warrants from the court’s pre-trial chamber, where a panel of judges will decide on their issuance.

Among the Israeli officials targeted are Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

The application, however, also includes top leaders of the Palestinian Resistance: Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, Mohammed Deif, the commander of the Al-Qassam Brigades, and Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’ political bureau.

After eight months of Israel’s genocidal war, which has killed over 35,500 people and injured nearly 80,000, Gaza residents were puzzled by the decision, which seems to equate between the victim and the killer.

The Palestine Chronicle spoke with four Palestinians who expressed their dismay at Khan’s measures.

Unfair
“I lost all members of my family in the bombing of our home in Gaza City. I lost my father, mother, and siblings, and now I live alone in the shelter,” Mohammed al-Beibi told The Palestine Chronicle.

“I expected the court’s decisions to be fair to us and to reflect the magnitude of the crimes that the occupation continues to commit in Gaza,” he continued.

Al-Beibi explained that the ICC prosecutor’s statement is unfair to the Palestinian people, because it equates the criminal occupation, which has committed thousands of massacres, with the victims who are fighting back.

Israel’s Dominance
Zahwa Al-Zard agreed. “The occupation killed all members of my family during this war, and I expected the court to issue arrest warrants against all their leaders involved in these heinous crimes,” she said.

Al-Zard called on the International Criminal Court’s top prosecutor to retract its statement and to look at the truth with complete transparency.

“They should stop this war and prosecute all leaders of the occupation for the continuous bloody war on Gaza for the past eight months,” she added.

“This is proof of Israeli dominance over the court’s decisions. It’s a clear politicization of all court decisions and a disregard for the ongoing crimes in Gaza,” the bereaved woman continued.

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Ignoring Reality
Samia Saleh, who lost her husband during the war, told us that the court’s decision ignores reality and attempts to cover up the heinous crimes committed by the occupation against Palestinians.

“The leaders of the occupation have committed all sorts of crimes in Gaza,” Saleh said.

“They have not hesitated to threaten us with annihilation. But it seems that the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor does not see the reality on the ground, but rather listens to what the United States has to say.”

Distorting the Truth
Nasreen al-Halaw is an elderly woman. She lost many relatives in the war, including her son’s family, killed in the bombing of their home in Gaza City.

Al-Halaw expressed her surprise and shock at the statement of the ICC prosecutor, who called for the arrest of Palestinian leaders on charges related to the events of October 7, ignoring the real reasons behind these events.

“The court should indict Benjamin Netanyahu, his war minister, Yoav Gallant, and all the other occupation leaders who committed war crimes against our people,” al-Halaw told us.

“The statement represents a clear distortion of the truth. It is a political decision that aligns with the agendas of the countries supporting the occupation.”

(The Palestine Chronicle)