World politicians call on ICC to investigate Israel for genocide in Gaza

More than 60 politicians have called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate Israel for committing genocide in the war-torn Gaza Strip.

More than 60 left-wing politicians from Europe and Latin America launched a petition on Tuesday calling on the ICC to investigate the Israeli regime for causing genocide in the Gaza Strip 39 days after it waged an ongoing brutal war against the inhabitants of the tightly-blockaded Palestinian enclave.

“We’re not going to allow genocide with our silence and complicity. If you don’t stop brutality in time, it drags you along with it,” said Spain’s social rights minister, Ione Belarra, as she launched the initiative, Turkey's official Anadolu news agency reported.

The petition named a number of Israeli leaders to be probed for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the minister for military affairs, Yoav Galant, and finance minister Bezalel Smotrich.

Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime's decades-long suppression and devastation against Palestinians.

According to the Gaza-based health ministry, 11,255 Palestinians, including 4,630 children and 3,130 women, have been killed and more than 29,000 others injured in the Israeli strikes.

The petition stresses that the ICC has enough evidence to launch arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Galant, as it also calls for an end to “occupation, apartheid and the expansion of the colonial project of … Israel.”

It was signed by Belarra, along with dozens of other prominent leftist politicians, including Jeremy Corbyn from the UK’s Labour Party, Manon Aubry from France’s Insoumise, Joana Mortagua of Portugal’s Left Bloc, and Peter Mertens of the Workers Party of Belgium.

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Israel refused to cooperate with the court in 2021 over war crimes investigation into the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories.

As it is open to anyone to sign, the petition – titled “The Justice for Gaza” – has so far been signed by hundreds more people, ranging from retirees to teachers and engineers around the globe.

Its aim is to “bring together diverse voices from international civil society, political leaders and representatives, and citizens from around the world” to call on the ICC to act now.

Earlier, ICC prosecutor Karim Khan has already warned that his office is collecting evidence that could result in an international investigation against Israel’s political and military leaders, as the occupying entity keeps pounding almost all areas and facilities of the blockaded territory, including hospitals, schools and residential buildings.

Israel, like the United States, is not a member of the ICC. It refused to cooperate with the court in 2021 over the war crimes investigation into the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories.

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