13 Aug, 2015
Nearly 40,000 sign UK Petition Demanding Arrest of Netanyahu for War Crimes
LONDON, August 12, 2015 (WAFA) – Some 39,000 Britons have signed a petition that calls on their government to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upon his arrival in the UK next month.
The petition entitled “Benjamin Netanyahu to be arrested for war crimes when he arrives in London” has been made available at a petitions website set up by the UK government and parliament.
“Benjamin Netanyahu is to hold talks in London this September. Under international law, he should be arrested for war crimes upon arrival in the UK for the massacre of over 2,000 civilians in 2014,” the petition reads.
Some 39,000 people have signed the petition until 12:00 (Jerusalem time) on Wednesday with the number of signatures dramatically increasing.
The British government is also expected to look into the matter as all petitions that get 10,000 signatures or more should be discussed.
According to the site’s rules, any petition that receives 100,000 signatures or more must be considered by the UK parliament for debate.
Last year, Israel launched a deadly offensive on Gaza that killed over 2,160 Palestinians and left more than 10,000 others injured.
The offensive ended on August 26 2014, with a ceasefire that took effect after indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israeli officials in the Egyptian capital city of Cairo.
In a report dated July 29, Amnesty International revealed that after gathering evidence, it appears the Israeli forces committed indiscriminate attacks which led to the killing of scores of Gaza civilians in their homes in Rafah during last year’s offensive.
The report revealed, “There is overwhelming evidence that Israeli forces committed disproportionate and indiscriminate attacks which killed scores of civilians in their homes in Rafah, in southern Gaza Strip, during the Israeli war on Gaza last year.”
Philip Luther, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Program at Amnesty International said the report’s findings add “compelling evidence to an already large body of credible documentation of serious violations during the Gaza conflict, which demand independent, impartial and effective investigations.”
”Victims and their families have a right to justice and reparation. And those suspected of ordering or committing war crimes must be prosecuted,” he has said.
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