La Paz: Bolivia has voiced its support to the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former ‘Defense’ Minister Yoav Gallant. Bolivia’s Foreign Minister Celinda Sosa said in a press statement that her country commends the ICC for its decision to arrest Israeli Premier Netanyahu and former ‘Defense’ Minister Gallant for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024. She stressed that the ICC’s decision is strong evidence that both Netanyahu and Gallant have perpetrated ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian people.
According to Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA, the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber I, a panel of three judges, stated that it has “in its composition for the Situation in the State of Palestine, unanimously issued two decisions rejecting challenges by the State of Israel (‘Israel’) brought under articles 18 and 19 of the Rome Statute (the ‘Statute’). It also issued warrants of a
rrest for Mr Benjamin Netanyahu and Mr Yoav Gallant.” The chamber mentioned that the arrest warrants are classified as “secret” but decided to release them because “conduct similar to that addressed in the warrant of arrest appears to be ongoing”, in reference to Israel’s ongoing onslaught on Gaza.
All 125 states that signed the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the court, are now under an obligation to arrest the wanted individuals and hand them over to the ICC in The Hague, as a trial cannot commence in absentia. However, the court does not have enforcement powers and relies on the cooperation of member states to arrest and surrender suspects.
Israel, which is not a member of the ICC, is under scrutiny as the State of Palestine was granted membership in 2015. This membership allows the court to investigate Israeli individuals for crimes committed in occupied Palestine, which includes the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7
, resulting in the deaths of at least 44,056 Palestinians and injuries to 104,268 others. Moreover, at least 10,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Palestinian and international organizations report that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children. The Israeli aggression has also led to the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt, marking Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
