About 100 Chilean lawyers have registered a petition against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the International Criminal Court (ICC), on the grounds of committing crimes against humanity, genocide, and war crimes in Gaza.
The petitioners are pressing for issuing an arrest warrant against Netanyahu and his accomplices in the alleged crimes, the Middle East Monitor reported.
The complaint filed on December 22 in The Hague was led by former Ambassador Nelson Haddad.
“All countries must denounce war criminals, ensuring they are held accountable, assume their responsibilities, face punishment according to the penalties of the Rome Statute, and provide reparations for victims,” Hadad reportedly said.
The petition emphasised the urgency of looking into the severity of the issue as the bombing of Gaza has been continued to date by Israel without distinguishing between civilians and combatants. A large number of residential neighbourhoods have been entirely razed off with impunity due to these attacks.
The complainants aim to substantially prove that genocide, forced displacement, war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law are taking place in Gaza.
South Africa had already submitted all necessary documents to the ICC in December, charging war crime charges against Israel.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said it was “totally unacceptable” that Israel “had become a law unto themselves.”
“As South Africa we have accordingly, together with many other countries in the world, seen fit to refer this whole Israeli government action to the ICC. We have put through a referral because we believe that war crimes are being committed there,” Ramaphosa added.
Most of the litigants among the Chilean counsels belong to the Palestinian diaspora in Chile. The Palestinian community in Chile is the largest outside the Middle East. The population of the group is estimated to be more than half a million, constituting a substantial minority in a country of under 20 million people.
They are now a prominent social force in the Andean nation with a strong presence in local politics and culture. Since the beginning of the current chain of events in Israel’s genocidal war on Palestinians, Chile has been one of the loudest voices opposing the Zionist State.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 23,210 Palestinians have been killed, and 59,167 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
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