Iran’s Khamenei calls for death sentence for Israeli leaders, not arrest warrants
Ayatollah says International Criminal Court warrants are not enough, ‘criminal leaders’ Netanyahu and Gallant should face capital punishment
The supreme leader of Iran, who backs the Hamas and Hezbollah terror groups fighting Israel in Gaza and Lebanon, said on Monday that death sentences should be issued for Israeli leaders, not arrest warrants.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was commenting on a decision by the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants on Thursday for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense chief Yoav Gallant, and a Hamas leader, Mohammed Deif, that Israel says is dead.
“They issued an arrest warrant, that’s not enough… Death sentence must be issued for these criminal leaders,” Khamenei said, referring to the Israeli leaders.
Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah all avowedly seek the destruction of Israel.
In their decision, the ICC judges said there were reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Gallant were criminally responsible for acts including murder, persecution, and starvation as a weapon of war as part of a “widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza.”
The decision was met with outrage in Israel, which called it shameful and absurd. Gaza residents expressed hope it would help end the violence and bring those responsible for alleged war crimes to justice.
Israel, which is not a member of the ICC, has rejected the jurisdiction of the Hague-based court and denies war crimes in Gaza while accusing Hamas of using the civilian population as human shields. The United States, also not a member, likewise rejected the decision. Some Western member countries, including Britain and Italy, have said they would honor the arrest warrants if Netanyahu or Gallant arrived in their countries.
Netanyahu fired Gallant earlier this month, claiming differences over managing the war.
The warrant for Hamas leader Deif, also known as Ibrahim Al-Masri, lists charges of mass killings during the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre in Israel in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 were seized as hostages. The warrant also includes charges of rape and the taking of hostages.
Israel has said it killed Deif in an airstrike in July, but Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied this.
The Hamas attack triggered the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. Israel’s counteroffensive has killed more than 44,000 people, according to the Hamas health ministry. The figure cannot be independently verified and does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, of whom Israel says it has killed at least 17,000 in Gaza, in addition to about 1,000 inside Israel during the onslaught. Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.
The day after the Hamas assault, Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group began attacking across Israel’s northern border saying it was supporting Gaza. Near-daily rocket and drone attacks have continued for months, with 60,000 Israelis forced from their homes, drawing Israeli reprisals. Israel stepped up its offensive on Hezbollah in Lebanon in late September, launching extensive strikes and operations that took out most of the group’s leadership, including its longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah.
The fighting has drawn Israel into direct conflict with Hamas and Hezbollah’s sponsor, Iran, which has twice fired barrages of hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel.
Israel allegedly carried out a limited strike in response to the first attack, in April, which was largely thwarted by air defense in cooperation with a US-led coalition of regional forces.
Then on October 1, Tehran launched some 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on October 1, sending most of the population rushing to bomb shelters and safe rooms. The assault on Israel caused relatively minor damage to military bases and some residential areas and killed a Palestinian man in the West Bank.
Israel responded with wide-ranging strikes on Iran’s military sites on October 26. Iran has vowed to retaliate. A senior adviser to Khamenei said Monday that Iran was preparing to “respond” to Israel, without giving details.
