Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s top leader, declared on Monday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should receive a “death sentence” and that a war crimes case against him for the Gaza conflict was insufficient.
“Not enough” was Khamenei’s first statement at a Tehran gathering following the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) issuance of an arrest order for Netanyahu last week.
His nation, Israel’s fiercest adversary, supports armed groups in the area, such as the Palestinian militant organisation Hamas, whose strike on October 7, 2023, ignited the conflict.
The ICC’s judges said there were “reasonable grounds” to believe that Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant bore “criminal responsibility” for using starvation as a method of warfare and intentionally attacking civilians in the Gaza Strip.
“They issued an arrest warrant for him, it’s not enough,” said Khamenei, speaking to a group from the Basij paramilitary force which is linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
Instead, the Iranian leader called for “Netanyahu’s death sentence” — which the ICC cannot order.
“The death sentence of these criminal leaders should be issued,” said Khamenei.
The supreme leader, who has the last word in all affairs of state, adding that Israel’s onslaught in Gaza over the last 13 months “is not a victory but a war crime.”
The judges of the ICC, which is situated in The Hague, have the authority to impose life sentences in certain cases and prison terms of up to 30 years. The death penalty cannot be imposed by the court.
Since any of the 124 member states of the court would be required to arrest Netanyahu on their soil, the pre-trial arrest warrant essentially restricts his freedom of movement.
The court’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan urged national members to act on the warrants, and for non-members — a category that includes Israel, Iran, the United States, China and others — to work together in “upholding international law”.
Tehran is a strong supporter of Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon, whose fighters have been engaged in months-long combat with Israeli forces, and it does not recognise Israel.
Iranian soldiers, which have mostly refrained from getting directly involved in the current regional crisis, were informed by Khamenei that they “will eventually destroy the Zionist regime” by the Basij paramilitaries.
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