DUBAI – Iran’s supreme leader, who supports Hamas and Hezbollah militants fighting Israel in Gaza and Lebanon, said Monday that death sentences should be issued against Israeli leaders, not arrest warrants .

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was commenting on the International Criminal Court’s decision to issue arrest warrants on Thursday against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense chief and a Hamas leader, Ibrahim Al-Masri.

“They issued an arrest warrant, that is not enough… The death penalty must be imposed on these criminal leaders,” Khamenei said, referring to Israeli leaders.

In their ruling, the ICC judges said there were reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant were criminally responsible for acts including murder, persecution and starvation as a weapon of war as part of a “widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza”. .

The decision sparked outrage in Israel, which called it shameful and absurd. Gazans expressed hope that this would help end the violence and bring those responsible for war crimes to justice.

Israel has rejected the jurisdiction of the Hague-based court and denies war crimes committed in Gaza.

The arrest warrant for a Hamas leader, Ibrahim Al-Masri, lists accusations of massacres carried out on October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel that sparked the war on the long-blocked Palestinian enclave, as well as accusations of rape and hostage taking. .

Israel said it killed Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif, in an airstrike in July, but Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied the report. REUTERS