Sanctions request against Netanyahu filed by UK lawyers, rights group

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been accused of “initiating violence and genocide against Palestinians” in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, according to a request from an Arab human rights non-governmental organization (NGO).

On behalf of the Arab Organization for Human Rights UK (AOHR UK), British law firm Deighton Pierce Glynn requested specific financial and travel sanctions against the Israeli leader on Tuesday.

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The submission contends that there are justifiable grounds for punishing Netanyahu based on his previous statements that “religiously framed genocidal rhetoric” such as making reference to the “Amalek’s” destruction and “religiously framed genocidal rhetoric.”

The Israeli far right uses the “Amalek,” which is thought to represent pure evil, to justify and describe the massacre of Palestinians.

Since Israel started its genocidal war in October 2023, at least 71, 551 people have died and 171, 372 have been injured, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

A UN investigation revealed last year that Netanyahu’s and Israel’s top leaders’ statements amounted to an “incitement to commit genocide” during the conflict in Gaza.

Given that he is the country’s highest-ranking official, sanctions should be imposed on him for carrying out “unlawful military operations in Gaza.”

Additionally, it highlighted the UK’s criticism of the prime minister’s role in the expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

According to Mohammed Jamil, the chairman of AOHR UK, “the UK has already acknowledged that senior Israeli officials have promoted serious violations of Palestinian rights,” in reference to a report from last year that the British government had imposed sanctions on Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and its national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

“The prime minister who approves, supports, and directs the policies in question is no longer credible,” the statement continues. Jamil continued, “Accountability cannot be kept within the highest office.”

Israel has largely supported the UK government throughout its conflict with Gaza, and despite acknowledging a Palestinian state, it has not referred to the mass Israeli civilian massacre in Gaza as a genocide.

After being charged with “crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 to at least 20 May 2024,” the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant in November 2023.