ISTANBUL

The International Criminal Court's (ICC) arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant represent another major step showing Israel is "touchable," the speaker of Türkiye's parliament said on Tuesday.

As Israel has continued to wage its devastating offensive on the Gaza Strip for over a year, the genocide case filed against it by South Africa at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) marked the beginning of a new era for Tel Aviv, Numan Kurtulmus said, speaking at the presentation of a report on human rights violations in Palestine and the genocide in Gaza, at parliament.

"This is the main reason why Israel has become so aggressive, violating the last remnants of international law," he noted at the presentation of the report by the Human Rights and Equality Institution of Türki̇ye, an affiliate of the country's Justice Ministry.

With the decisions from the two international courts, he said: "Israel sees that its end is near."

Kurtulmus also called for a third step: "Just as apartheid-era South Africa faced suspension from the United Nations, Israel's membership of the UN should also be suspended."

He praised the ICC’s "courage" despite the pressure it has been under, adding that its decision reflects the efforts of countless advocates for Palestinian rights.

"For the judges of both the ICJ and the ICC, it was an honor to deliver such a major judgment," he said. Kurtulmus added these decisions "also saved the reputation" of these courts.

The parliament speaker expressed support for countries committed to enforcing the ICC's decision.

The ICC last week announced the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant "for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024" in the Gaza Strip.

Israel has launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip following a Hamas attack last year, killing over 44,250 people, most of them women and children, and injuring over 104,700.

The onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the enclave, and a deliberate blockade has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, pushing the population to the brink of starvation.