The supreme leader of Iran, which backs the Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists 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, Ibrahim Al-Masri.
"They issued an arrest warrant, that's not enough... Death sentences must be issued for these criminal leaders", Khamenei said, referring to the Israeli leaders.
In their decision, the ICC judges said there were reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Yoav 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 war crimes to justice.
Israel has rejected the jurisdiction of the Hague-based court and denies war crimes in Gaza.
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The warrant for a Hamas leader, Ibrahim Al-Masri, also known as Mohammad Deif, lists charges of mass killings during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel that triggered the war, and also charges of rape and the taking of hostages. The IDF said it killed Deif in late July.
Israel has said it killed Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif, in an airstrike in July but Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied this.