A group of lawyers in Morocco called on Tuesday for the issuance of an international arrest warrant against former Israeli national security adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat for the murder of Moroccan nationals in Gaza. Four lawyers, namely Abderrahman Benameur, Abderrahim Jamaï, Abderrahim Ben Barka and Khalid Sefiani, filed a complaint with the prosecution at the Rabat Court of Appeal on charges of “crimes against humanity”.
They are calling for a case to be opened after the deaths of four young Moroccan girls during the Israeli aggression against Gaza in May this year, reports Al Araby Al Jadeed. No details were given on the age of the girls or why they were in Gaza, it is said. Originally from Salé and “holder of Moroccan nationality”, Ben-Shabbat was allegedly “present in the operations room during the bombing of Gaza alongside former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the chief of staff of the Gaza Strip. Israeli army, Aviv Kochavi, according to lawyers.
“The ball is now in the court of Moroccan justice, and we will see how it handles the case,” lawyer Khaled Sefiani told the media. “We will wait for an international warrant to be issued to arrest these three (Ben-Shabbat, Netanyahu and Kochavi), return them for investigation and be tried in Morocco,” he added, noting that “evidence of war crimes had been provided and substantiated with documents, photos and videos”.
The media said the lawyers received a “special power of attorney” from the family of Moroccan Hanane Rafi Al-Tamsmani, of Moroccan parents, who died in an Israeli raid on the Gaza Strip last May. They believe that their complaint constitutes “a test for the public prosecutor to show that Moroccans are all equal before the law”.
Ben-Shabbat was appointed Israel’s national security adviser and chief of the national security staff in November 2017 and resigned in August this year.
Morocco and Israel normalized their relations last year and established semi-complete diplomatic relations, with the opening of liaison offices, pending the opening of embassies.
