'Era of impunity' for Israel’s leaders is over: B’Tselem

The Israeli human rights group, B’Tselem, has welcomed the ICC prosecutor’s request to seek arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

“The era of impunity for Israeli decision-makers is over,” the group said in a statement.

“The international community is signalling to Israel that it can no longer maintain its policy of violence, killing and destruction without accountability. Likewise, the request for arrest warrants against Hamas leaders for the crimes of October 7 is important and draws a red line where harm to civilians is concerned,” it said.

“The ICC intervention and ICJ rulings are a chance for us, Israelis, to realise what we should have understood long ago: that upholding a regime of supremacy, violence and oppression necessarily involves crimes and severe violation of human rights.”