The day after Mayor Mamdani conceded he did not have the legal authority to deliver on a campaign promise to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on an outstanding International Criminal Court warrant for war crimes committed in Gaza, he told reporters the federal government should do so.
Speculation over whether or not Mayor Mamdani would order Netanyahu's arrest surfaced in anticipation of the annual UN General Assembly in September when world leaders convene at UN Headquarters.
"I've been very clear about the fact that I believe that the warrant that the International Criminal Court has placed upon Benjamin Netanyahu is one that should be honored," Mamdani told reporters. "And I've also been clear about that fact that I would follow and respect our local laws. And so, I asked my team to do a review of all applicable law, and it's clear that the city does not have the authority to execute this warrant."
Mamdani continued. "However, what is also clear is that the federal government does have the opportunity to execute this warrant. And I call on the federal government to join the International Criminal Court and to execute both this warrant as well as any warrant that the International Criminal Court holds."
Last September, the International Association of Genocide Scholars formally declared that the Isreali governments prolonged military operation in Gaza, done in response to Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack, amounted to genocide.
Over the two year scorched earth campaign in Gaza, tens of thousands of civilians were killed including women and children. The IAGS cited the IDF's systematic leveling of entire residential neighborhoods as well as attacks on healthcare and educational facilities.
The IAGS cited "the actions of the Israeli government against Palestinians have included torture, arbitrary detention, and sexual and reproductive violence; deliberate attacks on medical professionals, humanitarian aid workers and journalists; and the deliberate deprivation of food, water, medicine, and electricity essential to the survival of the population" adding that Israel "forcibly displaced nearly all of the 2.3 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip multiple times, and demolished more than 90 percent of the housing infrastructure in the territory."
The use of the denial of food, water and basic medical supplies has been widely documented.
Despite an October US brokered ceasefire in Gaza, Reuters reports that 1,160 Palestinians, mostly civilians have been killed in IDF attacks which Israel has justified by saying the targets posed a threat to their troops. Earlier this week, the news agency reported a family of six died in an Israeli strike.
Tactics reminiscent of Gaza have been deployed during Israel's incursion into southern Lebanon including the leveling of residential neighborhoods and the targeting of healthcare facilities.
"Three Israeli air strikes in southern Lebanon in March 2026 that killed 24 civilians – 12 of them children – wiping out families, must be investigated as war crimes, Amnesty International said today," reported Amnesty International. "The organization investigated three Israeli attacks that destroyed civilian homes in al-Thakana neighbourhood in Tyre district, Irkay village in Saida district, and al-Rahbat neighbourhood in Nabatieh district on 6, 12, and 13 March, respectively. Those killed included 12 children, ranging in ages from five to 16, six women – including a pregnant woman – and six men. At least 18 others were also injured."
Amnesty International's advisory continued. "Based on the evidence gathered, in each of these air strikes, Amnesty International has reasonable basis to conclude that Israeli forces violated international humanitarian law, including by failing to distinguish between civilians and military objectives, by carrying out attacks directed against civilians or civilian objects, or by failing to take all feasible precautions to minimize harm to civilians."
Since March, Israel's Lebanon offensive has killed over 4,300 people, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. Prime Minister Netanayhu has said the military action is necessary to counter rocket attacks from Hezbollah.
At yesterday's press conference Mayor Mamdani doubled down on his support for the ICC.
"I would say that the International Criminal Court is a body that seeks to hold those across the world accountable for crimes against humanity, for war crimes [and] for things of that nature," Mamdani told reporters. "And I think that the United States should not only be a party to that court but should also execute the warrants that that court issues. And what I have spoken up about, Nicolás Maduro, who I've also described appropriately as a dictator, is that the violation of international law is one that has to also be taken very seriously."
Mamdani continued. "It stems from the same belief in the International Criminal Court, and now he is here in New York City. On that day when the United States did violate international law, I made clear that I was in opposition to that, and it all stems from the same belief in how there can be a sanctity and something beyond an understanding of the world where might is right and justice is simply decided by those who are the strongest."
