AU Welcomes ICC Prosecutor’s Application for Netanyahu Arrest

GOOBJOOG NEWS | ADDIS ABABA: The African Union Commission has welcomed the application by ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan for an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Gaza attacks.

AU Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat said the arrest warrants against people responsible for the Gaza war should have been issued from the beginning saying the same applies to Israel’s defense minister Yoav Gallant as well as three leaders of Hamas.

“I think they took too much time, they should have done it from the beginning, because it’s clearly a decision to destroy a people and a nation. That is not acceptable,” Mahamat said while speaking to journalists in Doha.

While making the statement, Mahamat also described the ICC’s move as “absolutely logical.”

On Monday, Karim Khan, the ICC prosecutor said that he has applied for arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant, head of Hamas’ Political Bureau Ismail Haniyeh, its top official in Gaza Yahya Sinwar, and head of Hamas’ military wing Mohammed Deif.

The decision on whether any of the warrants will ultimately be issued lies with a panel of three ICC judges, which will assess the evidence presented by Khan’s office.