Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday that a war crimes case against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the Gaza war was insufficient and that he deserved a “death sentence”.
In his first remarks since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu last week, Khamenei told a Tehran meeting that it was “not enough”.
His country, Israel’s arch nemesis, backs armed movements in the region including Palestinian militant group Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 attack sparked the war.
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,”…
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