Israeli Foreign Minister in Prague Discusses War, ICC Arrest Warrants
Jerusalem, 28 November, 2024 (TPS-IL) -- Prague (CTK) Gideon Saar visited Prague on Thursday for his first official foreign trip as Israeli Foreign Minister.
At the press conference after the meeting with his Czech counterpart Jan Lipavský, he stated, among other things, that Israel will end the war in the Gaza Strip after achieving three goals – the return of the kidnapped hostages, the dismantling of the military and government infrastructure of the terrorist movement Hamas and the elimination of the security threat to Israel.
He also addressed Israel’s ceasefire with Hezbollah and the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant.
Lipavský, said that the immediate release of the hostages taken by Hamas was always the main demand of the Czech Republic when voting on any resolutions. He also stated that over the past year, the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs has decided on humanitarian aid for Gaza worth over 25 million crowns. According to Lipavský, a permanent solution to the conflict requires direct negotiations between Israel and the legitimate political representation of Palestine, so that one day a two-state solution can be achieved.
In an attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, Hamas gunmen killed nearly 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages to the Gaza Strip. Over a hundred of them were released by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israel a year ago during a week-long and so far only truce. According to Israeli data, 97 hostages remain in the Gaza Strip, of which over three dozen have been declared dead by the army.
Saar also said today that Israel will respond immediately to any violation of the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, and will not allow the terror organization to go south beyond the Lítani River or to arm itself again.
“Paper is not as important as reality,” Saar said.
The truce brokered by the United States and France entered into force on Wednesday morning and is intended, among other things, to allow the safe return of tens of thousands of residents on both sides of the border, who were driven from their homes by almost 14 months of shelling and, in the last two months, by Israeli army ground operations on the Lebanese border.
Israel also appealed Wednesday against the ICC decision that issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Galant, according to Saar. The minister described the court’s decision as outrageous, undermining the court’s credibility and setting a dangerous precedent for democratic countries fighting against terrorists.
Last week, the ICC issued arrest warrants on suspicion of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip.
