A girl stands holding a child surrounded by the rubble of buildings destroyed during Israeli bombardment in Khan Yunis on the southern Gaza Strip, June 2024. AFP
South Korea has filed a lawsuit for war crimes and crimes against humanity against seven senior Israeli officials, according to Israeli media reports.
The case targeted seven high-ranking Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Foreign Minister Israel Katz, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Ynet reported.
The case was submitted to the South Korean police investigation agency by an organization called PSPD, known for its leftist political orientation.
The move has prompted the foreign ministry to ask the Israeli officials to consider visiting South Korea to consult with the ministry, Ynet said.
The lawsuit asserts that these officials were involved in planning, instructing, and executing crimes such as attacks on medical institutions, use of illegal weapons, including prohibited chemical weapons, and other violations during the war on Gaza.
The organization seeks the extradition of these officials to South Korea for prosecution under South Korean law concerning crimes under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.
According to Al Jazeera, this is the second case to be filed against Ben-Gvir since the beginning of the Gaza war, as the first one was filed in Norway, but the investigation was later closed. It is also the first case to be filed against Smotrich.
Ahram Online
