Norway will arrest Netanyahu if a warrant is issued

International Desk: The Scandinavian country Norway has announced that if the International Criminal Court (ICC) issues a warrant against Israel's warlike Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he will be arrested.

Norway says it is 'compelled' to arrest Netanyahu if an ICC warrant is issued. Norway was the first European country to make this announcement on Tuesday. The Turkish news agency Anadolu reported in a report on Wednesday (May 22) that Norway has announced that it will arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant if the International Criminal Court (ICC) panel of judges issues a warrant.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Berth Aide said his country would be obliged to arrest Netanyahu and Galant if the Hague Tribunal issued arrest warrants against them and they arrived in Norway. In an interview given to an online portal in Norway, he said that if Netanyahu visits Norway, he will be arrested and extradited or handed over to the appropriate authorities.

Birth Aid also said that when an arrest warrant is issued against a person, Norway is obliged to hand him over to the court. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu faces a possible arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity. A warrant application has already been filed against him in the ICC.

The request for the issuance of an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Galant has been submitted to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, the Netherlands, for allegedly planning and carrying out war crimes in Gaza. The request was made by the office of the ICC's top prosecutor Karim Asad Ahmed Khan (Karim Khan).

Karim Khan said last Monday that he has applied for the issuance of an arrest warrant against Netanyahu. Besides, he applied for arrest warrant against Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar and two other leaders of Hamas.

A panel of ICC judges will now consider issuing arrest warrants against Hamas and Israeli leaders. Basically they will evaluate the evidence presented by Karim Khan's office. If warrants are issued, countries that are signatories to the Court's Rome Statute are obliged to detain the persons concerned if possible. Incidentally, the International Criminal Court considers Palestine as a state due to its observer status in the United Nations.

Palestine is also a signatory to the Rome Statute. It was on the basis of this statute that the ICC was formed. It should be noted that since the unprecedented cross-border attack by Hamas on October 7, Israel has been carrying out continuous air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip.

Thousands of buildings including hospitals, schools, refugee camps, mosques, churches have been damaged or destroyed in this Israeli attack. In addition, more than two million residents have been forced to leave their homes due to Israeli aggression.

According to the Ministry of Health of Gaza, more than 35,600 people have been killed and about 80,000 people have been injured since October 7 of last year as a result of this Israeli attack. Basically the Israeli invasion has reduced Gaza to rubble. According to the United Nations, about 85 percent of Gaza's Palestinians have been displaced by Israel's brutal attacks.

And with acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, all of Gaza is now food insecure. In addition, 80 percent of the infrastructure in the blockaded territory has been damaged or destroyed. Israel has already been accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice.