Dearborn Mayor Abdullah H. Hammoud pledged that his city would arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for both men for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
“Dearborn will arrest Netanyahu & Gallant if they step within Dearborn city limits,” Hammoud said on X. “Other cities should declare the same. Our president may not take action, but city leaders can ensure Netanyahu & other war criminals are not welcome to travel freely across these United States.”
Hammoud, a Democrat who is the city’s first Arab and Muslim mayor, previously called on a ceasefire and arms embargo on Israel. He refused to meet with Donald Trump during the election, and he also declined to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris.
Hammoud, like many residents in Dearborn, has lost members of his extended family to Israeli attacks in the Middle East.
It’s unclear, however, if the city of Dearborn has the authority to detain Netanyahu or Gallant based on the ICC’s arrest warrant.
Whatever the case, the international court’s actions are just the latest condemnation of Israel’s relentless attacks on Gaza, which have claimed the lives of approximately 44,000 people, including more than 17,000 children. An additional 104,000 people have been injured in Gaza.
According to the ICC, Israel used starvation as a weapon of war and “intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population.”
U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, whose district includes Dearborn and Detroit, also voiced support of the ICC’s arrest warrants.
“The International Criminal Court’s long overdue decision to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity signals that the days of the Israeli apartheid government operating with impunity are ending,” Tlaib said in a statement. “Since this genocide began, the United States has provided more than $18 billion in weapons to the Israeli government. The Biden Administration can no longer deny that those same US weapons have been used in countless war crimes. Those American officials facilitating this genocide can no longer deny that their Israeli counterparts have used starvation as a weapon of war against a captive civilian population.”
She added, “Our government must urgently end our complicity in these violations of human rights and international law. We must stop arming and funding this genocide and end all weapons shipments to the Israeli apartheid regime now. Today’s historic arrest warrants cannot bring back the dead and displaced, but they are a major step towards holding war criminals accountable. Netanyahu and Gallant must be arrested and brought before the ICC.”
The court’s actions places Netanhayu, leader of one of the U.S.’s strongest allies, alongside Russian President Vladimir V. Putin, who was similarly targeted by a court-issued arrest warrant last year.
This article was updated with a statement from U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib.
