- Iran’s supreme leader said Netanyahu should be executed
Iran’s supreme leader has claimed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be “sentenced to death” for alleged war crimes committed in the ongoing wars in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made the remarks on Monday during an event where he spoke with members of the Basij, the all-volunteer arm of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
Khamenei added that the International Criminal Court’s decision to issue an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant “was not enough.”
‘What the Zionist regime did in Gaza and Lebanon is not a victory, it is a war crime. They have now issued an arrest warrant. This is not enough!’ Khamenei said, according to statements published by the state news agency IRNA.
“Netanyahu and the criminal leaders of this regime must be sentenced to death.”
The International Criminal Court in The Hague does not issue death sentences.
Khamenei also insisted that those in Iran’s self-styled “Axis of Resistance,” such as the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, would be stronger after the war.
“Idiots should not think that bombing houses and hospitals in Gaza and Lebanon is a victory,” he said. “The enemy has not emerged victorious in Gaza and Lebanon, and it will not be.”
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei (pictured) said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be “sentenced to death” for alleged war crimes.
Benjamin Netanyahu (pictured) faces an international arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court
A view of the destruction after the Israeli airstrike on a building in the Nuseirat camp in the Gaza Strip on November 24, 2024.
It comes as the Israeli ambassador in Washington said a ceasefire deal to end fighting between Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah could be reached “within days”.
Ambassador Mike Herzog told Israeli Army Radio on Monday that there were still “points to be finalized” and that any deal required government agreement. But he said that “we are close to reaching an agreement” and that “it could happen in a few days.”
Among the issues remaining is the Israeli demand to reserve the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations under the emerging agreement. The agreement seeks to expel Hezbollah and Israeli troops from southern Lebanon.
Israel accuses Hezbollah of failing to adhere to a U.N. resolution that ended the 2006 war between parties that adopted similar provisions.
He said he is concerned that Hezbollah could mount a Hamas-style cross-border attack from southern Lebanon if it maintains a strong presence there.
Lebanon says Israel also violated the 2006 resolution. Lebanon complains that military planes and warships enter Lebanese territory even when there is no active conflict.
It is not clear whether Lebanon would accept the demand.
Palestinian families, forcibly displaced by the Israeli army and sheltered in tent camps, struggle due to harsh weather conditions amid continued Israeli attacks in Khan Yunis, Gaza, on November 24, 2024.
A Palestinian inspects the rubble of a house that was destroyed in an Israeli strike in the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on November 24, 2024.
A Palestinian girl rests on the rubble of a destroyed building west of Gaza City, November 25, 2024.
The optimism over a deal comes after a senior US envoy held talks between the sides last week in an attempt to reach an agreement.
Hezbollah began attacking Israel on October 8, 2023, a day after Hamas’ horrific attack in southern Israel, in which the terrorist group killed about 1,200 people and kidnapped about 250.
That led to an all-out war in September with massive Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon and later an Israeli ground incursion into the south of the country.
Hezbollah has fired thousands of rockets at Israeli cities and towns, including about 250 on Sunday.