GAZA CITY, Palestine

Hamas denounced on Thursday the opportunity for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address the American Congress, stating that he should have been arrested as a war criminal.

Netanyahu delivered a speech to Congress on Wednesday, during which nearly half of the Democratic lawmakers in the House of Representatives and the Senate walked out in protest against Israel’s war and crimes in the Gaza Strip.

“Netanyahu should have been arrested as a war criminal and handed over to the ICC (International Criminal Court) rather than being given a platform to polish his image before the world and cover up the mass killings and ethnic cleansing in Gaza,” the Palestinian resistance group said in a statement.

“Netanyahu's speech reflects the depth of his military, security, and international crisis, which he tried to cover publicly by justifying the defeats suffered by his army in Gaza,” it added.

Hamas accused Netanyahu of attempting to claim false victories, such as the freeing of several hostages, while ignoring the “horrific massacres” committed against civilians in Rafah and Nuseirat.

Netanyahu arrived in the US on Monday and is scheduled to meet with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday. He is also set to meet former President Donald Trump in Florida on Friday before returning to Israel.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

Nearly 39,200 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and over 90,400 injured, according to local health authorities.

Over nine months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio