Finally, after months of investigation, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued on Thursday, November 21, 2024, the order to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Minister of War Yoav Gallant for the war crimes they committed in Gaza.

Iran PressCommentary:  By virtue of the ICC order, the two war criminals are prosecuted in the 120 member states of the court and they are obliged to arrest the Israeli PM and his ex-war minister upon their arrival in the countries. The court order was followed with many reactions.

The US and Europe, the strategic allies of the Israeli regime, showed the most different reactions to the ruling against Netanyahu and the former war minister.

Calling the ICC ruling cruel, the US President Jo Baiden wrote: " The ICC issuance of arrest warrants against Israeli leaders is outrageous. Let me be clear once again: whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas.  We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security."

This was the second pro-Israeli rection of the US during three days in the current week. Earlier, the US vetoed a draft ceasefire in the UN Security Council where 14 members out of the 15 in the UNSC demanded a ceasefire in Gaza to stop the Israeli massacre of the Palestinian people.  

The US is not a member of the ICC because it does not want its terrorist soldiers and commanders as well as the Israeli regime's leaders to be prosecuted by the court. The US government has even signed agreements with some countries to protect American soldiers from prosecution by international bodies. Yet, despite the influence that the US has on international bodies, it is facing restrictions on exerting pressure on some institutions.

If the US had the right to veto as a member of the ICC, it would have vetoed the verdict the court issued against the child-killing Israeli regime's leaders. Without the support of the US, the Zionists could not and will not have the ability to confront the resistance of the Palestinians in Gaza.

Still, the European states' reaction was different from that of the US. The Chief of the EU Foreign Policy Josep Borrell called the ICC's warrant against Bibi and Gallant binding and the entire of Europe would fulfill it. Also, the Spokesperson of the British government stated: “We respect the independence of the International Criminal Court, which is the primary international institution for investigating and prosecuting the most serious crimes of international concern.”

Yet the British government, as a serious ally of the Israeli regime followed its statement with a sign of its commitment to the regime as it announced that Israel has a right to defend itself, in accordance with "international law."

Launching an all-out war on the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, the Israeli regime has so far killed 44,056 people, injured 104,268, and displaced thousands of others, in addition to the destruction of their houses and the creation of famine for the war-hit people. 

The reaction of the European governments to the warrant of the ICC against the Israeli criminals is of course due to the general public in the West. The discourse of resistance and support for the oppressed Palestinian people and hatred of the criminal Zionists has been globalized. 

The West can no longer suppress support for the oppressed Palestinian people under the pretext of fighting anti-Semitism.

European governments have implicitly acknowledged the genocide going on in Palestine by supporting the ICC's ruling. If they show no tendency to officially acknowledge the massacre Israel has launched in Gaza, it is because of their commitment to fully support the Zionist regime.

In sum, the ICC's warrant against the Israeli regime's leaders is considered a turning point in the history of the formation of the regime. The verdict was issued as the US and Europe did not come to reduce their commitment to support the Israeli regime so they stood against all of the international mechanisms to stop the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza. 

The Secretary General of Amnesty International Agnès Callamard called the verdict a turning point in history.  

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