Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials after Israel’s military seized control of the Rafah crossing on Tuesday -fair.
Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American member of Congress, said that with the ongoing incursion in the southern city of Rafah, there is “no place” safe for Palestinians in Gaza, and argued that Netanyahu will remain in his post while the conflict continues. Continue. .
“I urge the ICC to quickly issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and senior Israeli officials to finally hold them accountable for this genocide, as is obviously warranted by these well-documented violations of the Genocide Convention under international law,” Tlaib said in a statement. declaration Tuesday.
The Michigan progressive, who has been a vocal critic of Israel in Congress, also renewed calls for a ceasefire and suspension of all military funding to Israel.
“It is now more clear than ever that we must end all US military funding of the Israeli apartheid regime and demand that President Biden facilitate an immediate and permanent ceasefire that includes a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the liberation of all the hostages. and arbitrarily detained Palestinians,” she said on Tuesday.
Tlaib’s call for the ICC to issue arrest warrants for Israeli officials comes shortly after the court itself considered arrest warrants for Netanyahu and other members of his cabinet. The court was reportedly considering arrest warrants for weeks due to mounting allegations of alleged war crimes committed in the Israel-Hamas war.
In response, some Republicans in the Senate threatened to impose sanctions on the ICC if it moved forward with the arrest warrants. Lawmakers said the U.S. could turn to the American Servicemembers Protection Act (ASPA), a 2002 law that protects the country from cooperating with the court.
The US and Israel are not members of the ICC. The Palestinian territories became members in 2015.
On Tuesday, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) tanks arrived in Rafah, which, along with Kerem Shalom, is one of two critical entry points for humanitarian aid designated for the Palestinians, as parts of Gaza are moving for hunger, according to an Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report.
“Many of my colleagues will express concern and horror at the crimes against humanity that are about to happen, despite having just voted to send billions more weapons to Netanyahu,” Tlaib said. “Do not be fooled, they gave their consent to these atrocities and our country is actively participating in the genocide. For months, Netanyahu made clear his intention to invade Rafah, but most of my colleagues and President Biden sent more weapons to enable the massacre.”
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