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Rashida Tlaib Demands Court Issue Arrest Warrants for Netanyahu, Other Israeli Officials
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) addresses attendees as she takes part in a protest calling for a ceasefire in Gaza outside the US Capitol, in Washington, DC, US, Oct. 18, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Leah Millis
US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) on Tuesday called for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials.
Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American member of the US Congress, made the demand while accusing Israel of genocide after the Jewish state launched a military operation targeting Hamas in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, the Palestinian terrorist group’s last stronghold in the enclave.
“There is nowhere safe in Gaza,” Tlaib said in a statement. “I urge the ICC to swiftly issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and senior Israeli officials to finally hold them accountable for this genocide, as is obviously warranted by these well-documented violations of the Genocide Convention under international law.”
The US and Israel are not members of the ICC. Palestinian territories were given membership in 2015.
The ICC has reportedly considered warrants for Netanyahu and other members of his cabinet — the Israeli premier has characterized the possibility of an ICC arrest warrant as an “unprecedented antisemitic hate crime.” Some Republicans in the US Senate have responded with threats to impose sanctions on the ICC if it moved forward with the arrest warrants.
Tlaib, one of Israel’s harshest critics in Congress, also demanded that fellow lawmakers and US President Joe Biden halt all American military assistance to Israel.
“It is now more apparent than ever that we must end all US military funding for the Israeli apartheid regime, and demand that President Biden facilitate an immediate, permanent ceasefire that includes a complete withdraw of Israeli forces from Gaza, and the release of all hostages and arbitrarily detained Palestinians,” Tlaib said.
The Michigan Democrat did not mention Hamas once in her statement.
The terrorist group, which rules Gaza, launched the current war with its Oct. 7 invasion of the Jewish state. During their rampage across southern Israel, Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped over 250 others as hostages.
Israel responded to the surprise onslaught with a military campaign in Gaza aimed at freeing the hostages and incapacitating Hamas to the point that it can longer pose a major threat to the Israeli people. Hamas leaders have pledged to carry out massacres against Israel like the one on Oct. 7 “again and again.”
Tlaib’s statement came as the Israeli military said it took operational control of the Palestinian side of Gaza’s southern Rafah Crossing, which borders Egypt, while targeting the Hamas terrorist group’s fighters and infrastructure.
The US has sought to pressure Israel to forgo a significant military operation in Rafah, citing the potential for civilian casualties; Jerusalem has countered that a ground offensive is necessary to eliminate Hamas’ remaining battalions in the southern Gaza city.
Experts have told The Algemeiner that Israel must operate in Rafah if the Jewish state wishes to achieve its war objective of eliminating the threat posed by the Palestinian terrorist group.
“Many of my colleagues are going to express concern and horror at the crimes against humanity that are about to unfold, even though they just voted to send Netanyahu billions more in weapons,” Tlaib said. “Do not be misled, they gave their consent for these atrocities, and our country is actively participating in genocide. For months, Netanyahu made his intent to invade Rafah clear, yet the majority of my colleagues and President Biden sent more weapons to enable the massacre.”
Last month, Biden signed a legislative package that included about $26 billion in aid for Israel. However, the Biden administration has also reportedly held up deliveries of ammunition and precision weapons to the Jewish state amid concern over Israel’s operation in Rafah and, more broadly, increasing opposition to the Israeli war effort against Hamas.
Tlaib has received bipartisan backlash for her fierce opposition to Israel, which she has previously compared with Nazi Germany, since the Gaza war began.
Last month, Tlaib received a wave of criticism for refusing to condemn anti-Israel protesters who chanted “death to America” and “death to Israel” during a rally in her district.
Two months earlier, the US House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning Hamas’ use of sexual assault as a weapon of war during its Oct. 7 attack on Israel. It was a near-unanimous vote, with a single exception: Tlaib, who only voted “present,” arguing she could not support the measure because it did not also accuse Israel of using sexual assault as a weapon of war. Mounting evidence has documented Hamas’ systematic use of torture and sexual violence, including mass rape, against the Israeli people during the onslaught.
After Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre, Tlaib flew a Palestinian flag outside her home and seemingly blamed Israel for the attack, accusing the Jewish state of having an “apartheid system” that fosters “conditions that can lead to resistance.” Later, the lawmaker accused Biden of supporting a “genocide” against Palestinians because he voiced support for Israel’s right to defend itself.
In the following weeks, Tlaib falsely claimed on social media that Israel bombed the Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza as part of its military operations targeting Hamas, which rules the coastal Palestinian enclave. It turned out that a misfired Palestinian rocket from Gaza caused a widely reported explosion near the Al Ahli Hospital, according to intelligence from Israel and several Western governments. Experts agreed that Israel was not responsible, but Tlaib refused to recant her claim, arguing that “both the Israeli and United States governments have long, documented histories of misleading the public about wars and war crimes.”
So indecorous was Tlaib’s conduct that in November her colleagues in the House voted to censure her for “promoting false narratives” regarding Hamas’ Oct. 7 invasion of the Jewish state and for “calling for the destruction of the state of Israel.”
Tlaib’s close ally in the House — Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), another vocal opponent of Israel — may also be censured for remarks concerning Israel and Gaza. House Republicans have said they are preparing to formally censure Omar over her recent comments at Columbia University, where she said that “we should not have to tolerate antisemitism or bigotry for all Jewish students — whether they are pro-genocide or anti-genocide.” Critics have argued that Omar’s claim that Jews are “pro-genocide” was antisemitic.
“It’s just unacceptable, so I want to take a bold stand,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) told reporters on Tuesday, explaining that he’ll pursue censure against Omar. He predicted that many Democrats would support his resolution.
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Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi lays a wreath as he visits the burial site of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A member of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli air strike on Tehran alongside a member of an Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group, a senior Lebanese security source told Reuters and the Iraqi group said on Saturday.
The source identified the Hezbollah member as Abu Ali Khalil, who had served as a bodyguard for Hezbollah’s slain chief Hassan Nasrallah. The source said Khalil had been on a religious pilgrimage to Iraq when he met up with a member of the Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada group.
They traveled together to Tehran and were both killed in an Israeli strike there, along with Khalil’s son, the senior security source said. Hezbollah has not joined in Iran’s air strikes against Israel from Lebanon.
Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada published a statement confirming that both the head of its security unit and Khalil had been killed in an Israeli strike.
Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli aerial attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs in September.
Israel and Iran have been trading strikes for nine consecutive days since Israel launched attacks on Iran, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran has said it does not seek nuclear weapons.
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Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip

Israeli soldiers operate during a ground operation in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, July 3, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in cooperation with the General Security Service (Shin Bet), announced on Friday the killing of Ibrahim Abu Shamala, a senior financial official in Hamas’ military wing.
The operation took place on June 17th in the central Gaza Strip.
Abu Shamala held several key positions, including financial officer for Hamas’ military wing and assistant to Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’ military wing until his elimination in March 2024.
He was responsible for managing all the financial resources of Hamas’ military wing in Gaza, overseeing the planning and execution of the group’s war budget. This involved handling and smuggling millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip to fund Hamas’ military operations.
The post Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
i24 News – Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him should he be killed, the New York Times reported on Saturday citing unnamed Iranian officials. It is understood the Ayatollah fears he could be assassinated in the coming days.
Khamenei reportedly mostly speaks with his commanders through a trusted aide now, suspending electronic communications.
Khamenei has designated three senior religious figures as candidates to replace him as well as choosing successors in the military chain of command in the likely event that additional senior officials be eliminated.
Earlier on Saturday Israel confirmed the elimination of Saeed Izadi and Bhanam Shahriari.
Shahriari, head of Iran’s Quds Force Weapons Transfer Unit, responsible for arming Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, was killed in an Israeli airstrike over 1,000 km from Israel in western Iran.
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