Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly: ICC decision shows that Israel is ‘touchable’

The arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant represent another important step showing that Israel is “untouchable”, the speaker of Turkey’s parliament said on Tuesday.

Numan Kurtulmuş said that while Israel has been continuing its devastating attack on the Gaza Strip for more than a year, the genocide case filed against him by South Africa at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the beginning of a new era for Tel Aviv. He spoke at the presentation to parliament of a report on human rights violations in Palestine and genocide in Gaza.

“This is the main reason why Israel has become so aggressive and violated the last vestiges of international law,” he said at the presentation of the report prepared by the Turkish Human Rights and Equality Institution, which is affiliated with the country’s Ministry of Justice. he said.

With the decisions of two international courts, he said: “Israel sees its end approaching.”

Kurtulmuş also called for the third step: “Just like South Africa faced the suspension of its United Nations membership during the apartheid period, Israel’s UN membership should also be suspended.”

He praised the ICC’s “courage” despite the pressure it faced, adding that the decision reflected the efforts of countless advocates for Palestinian rights.

“It was an honor for the judges of both the ICJ and the ICC to deliver such an important decision,” he said. Kurtulmuş added that these decisions “also saved the reputation” of these courts.

The speaker of the parliament expressed his support for countries that have committed to implementing the ICC’s decision.

The ICC announced last week that arrest warrants had been issued for Netanyahu and Gallant in the Gaza Strip “for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 to at least 20 May 2024.”

Israel launched a genocidal war in the Gaza Strip following Hamas’ offensive last year; It killed more than 44,250 people, mostly women and children, and injured more than 104,700.

The attack displaced nearly the entire population of the region, and a deliberate blockade led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine, pushing the population to the brink of starvation.