Islam Times - Erdogan Says Enforcing ICC Arrest Warrants to Restore Trust in Int'l System

Islam Times - The president of Turkey lauded the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed that enforcement of the rulings would be crucial in restoring trust in the international system.

“We consider the implementation of this courageous decision by all parties to the (ICC) agreement important for restoring humanity's trust in the international system,” Erdogan said in an address at the fourth International NGO Fair in the Turkish metropolis Istanbul on Saturday.

Erdogan noted that countries supporting the Tel Aviv regime are “fueling atrocities,” despite often “lecturing” others on democracy and human rights.

The Turkish president asserted that international organizations and Western media outlets are turning “a blind eye to crimes against humanity” which are being committed by Israeli forces in Palestine, Lebanon, and elsewhere in the region.

“The blood of those martyred and injured in Palestine stains not only their killers but also those who fail to stop them,” he emphasized.

Erdogan also expressed hope for the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state with East al-Quds as its capital.

He called on the Muslim world to put differences aside, take a joint stance, and act as one.

“Unless hearts beat collectively, there can be no success against the aggressors and observers.

“This is the only way we can help our Palestinian and Lebanese brethren and sisters, the innocent and oppressed in Sudan, Yemen, and many other countries,” the Turkish leader said.

On Thursday, judges at the ICC issued arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister and former minister of military affairs.

The judges said there were “reasonable grounds” to believe Benjamin Netanyahu and Yaov Gallant “intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival”.

The court also said the men bore “criminal responsibility” for war crimes and crimes against humanity during the bloody onslaught on Gaza.

Backed by the United States and its Western allies, Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against the Israeli regime in response to the occupying entity’s decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.

The regime’s bloody onslaught on Gaza has so far killed 44,176 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 104,473 others. Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under rubble.