Hamas Netanyahu Should Be Arrested, Not Given an Image – 2024-07-27 01:01:54

Children with disabilities in Gaza during the Palestinian struggle against Israel. (Doc Al-Jazeera)

THE Palestinian militant group Hamas has condemned the opportunity given to Israeli head of government Benjamin Netanyahu to address the US Congress.

“Netanyahu should be arrested as a war criminal and handed over to the ICC (International Criminal Court), instead of being given the opportunity to polish his image before the world and cover up the mass murder and ethnic cleansing in Gaza,” Hamas said in a statement on Thursday (25/7).

Netanyahu delivered a speech before the US Congress on Wednesday (24/7). Nearly half of Democratic lawmakers in the House and Senate walked out of the chamber in protest of Israel’s war and crimes in the Gaza Strip.

“Netanyahu’s speech reflects the depth of the military, security and international crisis that he is trying to cover up in front of the public by justifying the defeats suffered by his army in Gaza,” Hamas said.

Hamas accused Netanyahu of trying to claim false victories, such as the release of several hostages, while ignoring the horrific massacres committed against civilians in Rafah and Nuseirat.

Netanyahu arrived in the US on Monday (7/22) and is scheduled to meet with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday. He will also meet with former President Donald Trump in Florida on Friday, before returning to Israel.

Ignoring UN Security Council resolutions demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid ongoing brutal attacks on Gaza, since Hamas’s offensive on October 7 last year. Nearly 39,200 Palestinians have been killed and more than 90,400 injured, according to local health authorities.

Nine months after the Israeli offensive, much of Gaza has been devastated amid shortages of food, clean water and medicine. Israel has been accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its military operation in Rafah, southern Gaza, where more than a million Palestinians sought refuge from the war before the city was attacked on May 6. (Ant/Z-2)