Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, a country that supports Hamas and Hezbollah militants fighting Israel in Gaza and Lebanon, said today that Israeli leaders should be given death sentences, not arrest warrants, Reuters reports.
Khamenei was commenting on the International Criminal Court's (ICC) decision to issue arrest warrants on Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense chief Yoav Galant and Hamas leader Ibrahim Al-Masri.
"They issued an arrest warrant, that's not enough... The death penalty must be imposed on these criminal leaders," Khamenei said, referring to the Israeli leaders.
In their decision, the ICC judges stated that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Galant are criminally responsible for murder, persecution and starvation as weapons of war as part of a "widespread and systematic attack on the civilian population of Gaza".
The decision was met with outrage in Israel, which called it shameful and absurd.
Residents of Gaza expressed hope that this 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 Hamas leader Ibrahim Al-Masri cites allegations of mass killings during the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel that triggered the war on the long-blockade Palestinian enclave, as well as allegations of rape and hostage-taking.
Israel said it killed Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif, in an airstrike in July, but Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied this.
See more:
Download the app and follow the news
FOLLOW US ON
