International Criminal Court (ICC)

Mamdani says ICC warrant against Netanyahu should be ‘taken seriously’

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New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani speaks to members of the press during his during his visit to a childcare center in Manhattan, New York, U.S., on December 11, 2025. [Mostafa Bassim – Anadolu Agency]

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Monday that the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be “taken seriously,” hours US President Donald Trump said Netanyahu would not face arrest in the US, Anadolu reports.

Speaking at a press conference, Mamdani said Netanyahu is “the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant” over alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes.

“We’re speaking about someone who’s the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant. And he’s the subject of this arrest warrant for alleged crimes against humanity, for war crimes, and he’s the architect of the genocide against Palestinians in Gaza as Israel’s prime minister,” Mamdani said.

He added that his remarks were based on “facts of public record,” not personal opinion.

“I believe that when someone is charged with an International Criminal Court warrant, it’s something that should be taken seriously—whether it’s Benjamin Netanyahu or it’s Vladimir Putin or whomever else. What I’ve also made clear is that my administration will follow all applicable local laws,” he said.

READ: Mamdani says New York City reviews authority to arrest Netanyahu during UN visit: Report

Mamdani reiterated that position, saying: “If someone is charged with a warrant by the International Criminal Court for these kinds of crimes, that’s something I believe should be honored. And I’ve also said that we will follow our local laws.”

His comments came after US President Donald Trump said Netanyahu would not face arrest in the United States.

In a Truth Social post earlier Monday, Trump said the Israeli leader “will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America.”

Earlier, Mamdani told The New York Times that his administration’s legal department was discussing the possibility of Netanyahu’s arrest if he visited New York, saying he believes the Israeli premier “belongs in The Hague.”

The ICC issued arrest warrants in November 2024 for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

READ: Netanyahu seeks extended security protection for his family beyond potential end of premiership

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. 

Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Strait of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don't need people to join wars after they've already won. He's challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Strait of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don’t need people to join wars after they’ve already won. He’s challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.

Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says Sundown Syndrome is a dead givaway and he wishes someone would Lock Him Up
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says Sundown Syndrome is a dead givaway and he wishes someone would Lock Him Up

Continue ReadingMamdani says ICC warrant against Netanyahu should be ‘taken seriously’

Presumptive British PM Burnham’s Gaza Apology Met With Skepticism

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Article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

UK Labour MP Andy Burnham is seen following a media interview in London on July 2, 2026. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

“Andy Burnham knows that war crimes are being committed in Gaza, but has he got the courage to do anything about it?” asked the Greens’ deputy leader.

Labour MP Andy Burnham, who is on track to become Britain’s next prime minister following Keir Starmer’s resignation last month, apologized Thursday for his party’s initial response to Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza—but critics said his circumspect atonement fell short of the mark.

“Let me start by saying the unbearable suffering in Gaza is a scar on our collective conscience,” Burnham, the erstwhile Manchester mayor who won last month’s Makerfield by-election, said in a three-minute video. “It’s completely unacceptable that innocent Palestinians, including children, continue to be killed, that there’s still a humanitarian crisis with too little aid getting in, and that the Israeli military continues to expand the area it controls in Gaza.”

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“We’ve got to do more to put pressure on the Israeli government,” he asserted. “The response has too often not been good enough. We need to do better. Yes, we have taken some important steps. These include recognizing the Palestinian state, placing sanctions on Israeli ministers, and imposing waves of sanctions on violent settlers and the organizations that support them.”

“But let’s be honest, the UK was too slow to call for a ceasefire, and we must now do more to strengthen our approach,” Burnham continued. “Israel continues to violate the ceasefire agreement, killing innocent Palestinians. We’re seeing a surge in settler violence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and the continued expansion of illegal settlements, displacing Palestinian communities.”

The lawmaker accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government of “clearly attempting to make a two-state solution impossible.”

“That’s why we need to do more, which includes looking at further sanctions, both on those involved in the violence in Gaza, but also looking at measures to ban trading goods with illegal settlements,” he said.

“There’s increasing evidence that war crimes appear to have been committed,” Burnham added. “There must be accountability for the depth of the suffering the people of Gaza have experienced. Ultimately, however, it must be for the international courts to determine, rather than politicians.”

The International Criminal Court has already issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, his former defense minister, for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza, where more than 250,000 Palestinians have been killed or wounded, most of them civilians, since the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023. The International Court of Justice is currently weighing a genocide case against Israel filed by South Africa and formally supported by nearly 20 nations.

While some Zionist UK MPs denounced Burnham’s comments as anti-Israel, Burnham’s pledge of a “fair and balanced approach” to Israel and Palestine, his placing of the onus on courts and not elected officials, and the fact that he did not say the word “genocide” in his apology drew criticism from Palestine defenders.

“Gaza has now endured more than 1,000 days of genocide,” Green Party Leader Zack Polanski said in response to the video. “Andy Burnham must answer: As prime minister, will he end Britain’s participation in genocide or continue it?”

Deputy Green Leader Mothin Ali told The Guardian that Burnham is hiding behind international courts “because admitting that the British government knows war crimes are being committed would trigger a legal duty to immediately halt arms sales.”

Andy Burnham knows that war crimes are being committed in Gaza, but has he got the courage to do anything about it?Britain must halt arms sales to Israel immediately

— Mothin Ali (@mothinali.bsky.social) 2026-07-09T21:58:42.790Z

Adnan Hmidan, chair of the Palestinian Forum in Britain, said that Burnham’s “recognition that far stronger action is needed to confront the grave violations committed against the Palestinian people” is an important step.

“But the scale of devastation, killing, starvation, and forced displacement inflicted upon Gaza demands far more than acknowledgement,” he continued. “It requires courageous political action.”

“As an increasing number of legal experts and international human rights organizations have concluded, we hope more British political leaders will recognize that the atrocities committed in Gaza constitute genocide under international law, and will support the measures necessary to ensure accountability, end impunity, and uphold international law without exception or double standards,” Hmidan added.

British political commentator Saul Staniforth said on social media that “it was clear from the very start that what Israel was doing in Gaza was genocide… and yet over two-and-a-half years later, Burnham still refuses to call it genocide. Why? Because if he did, he’d have to take action as PM.”

“Burnham only made his statement yesterday on Gaza because of pressure, and meaningful action by a government led by him will only happen because of pressure,” Staniforth added.

Queen Mary University of London politics professor Tim Bale told Al Jazeera that Burnham is “trying to repair damage, but his remarks are probably more symbolic than substantive.”

Noting that Labour has “only just recovered from the accusations of antisemitism that were swirling around it during the [Jeremy] Corbyn era,” Bale asserted that “the UK is already at the edge of what it’s likely to do and say on Israel.”

“It also has to worry about maintaining relations with a profoundly pro-Israel US administration,” the professor added.

Article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Keir Starmer explains that UK is participating defensively in Trump and Israel's criminal war for Israel's genocidal expansion in Iran and states that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said "I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is participating defensively in Trump and Israel’s criminal war for Israel’s genocidal expansion in Iran and states that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza's hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says Sundown Syndrome is a dead givaway and he wishes someone would Lock Him Up
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says Sundown Syndrome is a dead givaway and he wishes someone would Lock Him Up
Continue ReadingPresumptive British PM Burnham’s Gaza Apology Met With Skepticism

Corbyn warns of new Labour threat to freedoms

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/corbyn-warns-new-labour-threat-freedoms

 Police detain protesters outside Woolwich Crown Court, London, during a hearing where Palestine Action activists were due to be sentenced over over a break-in at the UK base of an Israel-based defence firm, Elbit Systems site near Bristol on August 6 2024

YOUR PARTY parliamentary leader Jeremy Corbyn pledged to oppose the government’s National Security (State Threats) Bill today as ministers started to rush the measure through Parliament.

He warned that the Bill “is an alarming expansion of state power, and an escalation of the government’s chilling assault on the right to protest.

“This week more than 100 people were arrested for holding placards in support of a group that has taken direct action against British complicity in genocide. Meanwhile, Britain continues to sell arms to a state whose leader is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“This Bill represents  a further, grave risk to our civil liberties. Under the new legislation, people can be criminalised for ‘expressing an opinion or belief that is supportive of’ bodies that the Home Secretary deems prejudicial to ‘the safety or interests’ of the UK.”

Mr Corbyn added: “Deliberately vague and open-ended, this legislation gives the Home Secretary sweeping powers to criminalise political campaigns of their choosing.

“We are going down a very dangerous path, and the fact that this legislation is being rushed through Parliament in one day should alarm us all.

…

Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/corbyn-warns-new-labour-threat-freedoms

Image of the original Fascists Mussolini and Hitler.
The original Fascists Mussolini and Hitler salute UK’s Labour Party.

Continue ReadingCorbyn warns of new Labour threat to freedoms

Ex-Israeli premier urges removal of Netanyahu ‘with sticks, stones’ if elections are sabotaged

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This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Former Israeli Prime Minister and leader of Israel Democratic party, Ehud Barak speaks at the Party’s Election campaign event in Tel Aviv on July 17, 2019. [Gili Yaari/NurPhoto via Getty Images]

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak on Sunday called for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be removed “with sticks and stones” if he attempts to undermine the upcoming general election, Anadolu reports.

Barak, who served as Israel’s prime minister from 1999 to 2001, made the remarks in an interview with Israel’s public broadcaster KAN.

“I fear Netanyahu may try to sabotage the elections, and he can do it very easily,” Barak said. “If he tries, we will have no choice but to remove him with sticks and stones.”

Netanyahu, 76, has led the current government since late December 2022. His coalition has been widely described as the most right-wing since Israel was established on Palestinian territories in 1948.

The Knesset’s current term expires in October 2026, with elections expected to be held in September or October.

Barak argued that Netanyahu “could sabotage the elections by launching operations in Lebanon that would provoke retaliation from Hezbollah and Iran.

“Netanyahu wants an endless war because he understands that ending it would accelerate his trial,” Barak said. “Just as he obstructed some prisoner-exchange deals (with Hamas), he also blocked the possibility of progress in Lebanon.”

READ: Netanyahu’s Likud drops to lowest level since August 2025, poll shows

Netanyahu is currently standing trial in Israel on corruption charges and is also wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) since 2024 on allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Barak also criticized the emerging agreement between the US and Iran. “In one word: bad. In two words: very bad,” he said.

He warned that “Israel is paying the price for Netanyahu’s arrogance and lack of foresight,” adding that the arrangement under discussion was “not an agreement, but a memorandum of understanding that failed to address either missiles or Iran’s regional allies.”

Barak argued that “none of the objectives of the war against Iran have been achieved.”

The remarks drew immediate criticism from Netanyahu’s allies.

Boaz Bismuth, a Likud lawmaker and chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, called for a criminal investigation into Barak for what he described as legitimizing violence against the prime minister.

“He should be sent to a psychiatrist, and if he is found mentally fit, a criminal investigation should be opened against him immediately,” Bismuth said in a post on US social media company X.

While US President Donald Trump said an agreement with Iran that would open the Strait of Hormuz would be signed on Sunday, Tehran has disputed the timeline and says the signing could happen in the coming days.

Since the April 8 ceasefire mediated by Pakistan, efforts aimed at ending the war launched by the US and Israel against Iran on Feb. 28 have continued.

READ: Iran threatens to halt US negotiations if Israeli attacks continue in Lebanon

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/

Continue ReadingEx-Israeli premier urges removal of Netanyahu ‘with sticks, stones’ if elections are sabotaged

House Dems Join GOP to Help Advance Deeper US-Israeli Military Integration

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Article by republished form Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

US service members conduct an Armed Forces Full Honors Arrival Ceremony for the outgoing head of the Israeli military, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, in Conmy Hall at Fort Myer, Virginia on February 18, 2025. (Photo by Sgt. Nathan Winter/US Army)

“At a time when Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza… Congress should be cutting off military support—not integrating the US military and Israeli defense sector,” said one critic.

A US congressional committee on Thursday rejected an amendment to strip a provision from next year’s Pentagon funding bill aimed at deepening integration of the US and Israeli militaries under the guise of reducing aid.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) introduced an amendment to strike Section 224—which would establish a formal “United States–Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative”—from the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act. The proposed NDAA authorizes $1.15 trillion in baseline military spending, while the Trump administration’s full defense request seeks an unprecedented, debt-exploding $1.5 trillion in armed forces and related funding for the coming fiscal year.

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Section 224 would require the US defense secretary to designate a Pentagon executive agent responsible for coordinating and expanding US-Israel defense technology cooperation.

In Thursday’s voice vote, members of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) from both parties rejected the amendment to remove Section 2024 from the NDAA, with only Khanna and Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) backing the measure.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza—has called Section 224 “my plan.”

While proponents of Section 224 contend that the measure would reduce US taxpayer funding for Israel, Khanna argued that the provision amounts to a blank check for a country that most Americans oppose sending more aid to.

“The American people are tired of the arrogance and insolence of Prime Minister Netanyahu telling America what we should do,” the congressman said Thursday while promoting his amendment. “The entire country of Israel has a GDP that is less than a single town in my district, yet somehow Netanyahu thinks he could tell the American people what we should do.”

“I am for Team America,” Khanna added. “I am for the interests of this country, and I believe that’s what [President] Donald Trump ran on. That includes American interests against any foreign country. We should have American sovereignty and make it clear that we strike 224. If we want to give aid to Israel, if we want to sell them weapons, that should be a vote for the entire Congress.”

In a letter to Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.)—who is not on the HASC—Netanyahu said he is “heartened” by Section 224’s plan to “develop a new Memorandum of Understanding with the United States government” that will reduce “US financial military assistance over the next decade” and replace it with “a new framework of joint defense cooperation, codevelopment, coproduction, and mutual investment.”

The US has provided more than $20 billion in armed aid to Israel during the Biden and Trump administrations since Netanyahu launched the genocidal war on Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023. The current 10-year Memorandum of Understanding between the US and Israel, signed in 2016 during former President Barack Obama’s tenure, provided Israel with $38 billion in US military aid and expires in 2028.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.)—who has partnered with Khanna on introducing or supporting war powers resolutions aimed at curbing Trump’s ability to wage unconstitutional wars in countries including Yemen, Venezuela, and Iran—said last month that if Section 224 made it out of committee, he would work with Khanna to “offer an amendment to strip it from the bill on the floor.”

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) is urging Americans to contact their members of Congress to tell them to reject Section 224.

“This is not ‘America First.’ It is Israel First,” ADC argues on its website. “The resolution language attached to this proposal gives it away: it expresses support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s initiative to transition the US–Israel relationship toward mutual defense cooperation and joint economic investment. This language turns Congress into a vehicle for advancing Netanyahu’s agenda and asks the American people to treat it as their own national security policy.”

“Section 224 would move US support for Israel away from the more transparent foreign aid framework and into a maze of Pentagon procurement, licensing, data-sharing, and backdoor deals that are harder for Congress, taxpayers, and future administrations to monitor, cap, condition, or unwind,” the group continued. “Concerns of undefined ‘network integration’ and ‘data fusion’ should alarm every American who cares about sovereignty, privacy, civil liberties, and democratic oversight.”

“At a time when Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, exporting surveillance technologies used against activists and journalists around the world, marketing military technology tested on Palestinians, and carrying out terrorist attacks as seen in the cell phone [bombings] in Lebanon, Congress should be cutting off military support—not integrating the US military and Israeli defense sector and making accountability harder than ever,” ADC added.

In an opinion piece published this week by Common Dreams, Ben Freeman, director of the Democratizing Foreign Policy Program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, wrote that “lawmakers should reject Section 224 from the NDAA to avoid deep integration with Israel’s military at a time when a growing number of Americans oppose Israel’s actions in the region.”

“This unprecedented level of US-Israeli military integration stands in stark contrast to the traditional aid model of defense cooperation, in which Israel already stood out as the top recipient of US military assistance,” Freeman said.

Article by republished form Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza's hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Donald Trump sings and dances, says that it's fun to kill everyone ...
Donald Trump sings and dances, says that it’s fun to kill everyone …
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says Sundown Syndrome is a dead givaway and he wishes someone would Lock Him Up
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says Sundown Syndrome is a dead givaway and he wishes someone would Lock Him Up

Continue ReadingHouse Dems Join GOP to Help Advance Deeper US-Israeli Military Integration