Israel-Hamas war: PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s graft trial resumes in Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's corruption trial resumed on Monday (Dec 4) amid the nation's ongoing war against Hamas, which is a Palestine-based militant group.

The trial was suspended two months ago when Israel launched war terming it a retaliatory action to Hamas' October 7 attack, which killed around 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials.

Netanyahu is accused of fraud and breach of trust over his relationship with Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan and other wealthy personalities.

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The prosecutors have said that Netanyahu allegedly received gifts valued at 700,000 shekels ($195,000) between 2007 and 2016. The gifts included boxes of cigars, bottles of champagne and jewellery, in exchange for financial or personal favours.

The leader of Israel's right-wing Likud party has denied the claims and said that the gifts were only accepted by friends and without him having asked for them.

Netanyahu is Israel's first sitting prime minister to stand trial and in October 2019, his lawyers said they had received an expert legal opinion that concluded he had a right to accept gifts from close friends.

Netanyahu is suspected of promoting a tax project in return that would have brought Milchan millions of dollars. The finance ministry has since vetoed this proposal.

Watch:Over 700 killed in last 24 hours as Israel expands ground offensive in Gaza

October 7 attack

During the October 7 attack, Hamas had also taken around 250 as hostages, around 100 of which were released during the recent week-long pause in fighting in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.

Israel said that around 130 hostages still remained in Gaza but the country has not provided evidence to support its estimate. Reports have also claimed that some Israeli hostages are unaccounted for.

Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and began an air, sea and ground offensive that has killed more than 15,500 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

Netanyahu 'will be tried as war criminal'

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that Netanyahu would eventually be tried as a war criminal over Israel's ongoing offensive in the Gaza Strip. He also slammed the Western countries supporting Israel.

In a speech to an Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) committee meeting in Istanbul, Erdogan said the Western nations supporting Israel were giving it "unconditional support to kill babies" and were complicit in its crimes.

"Beyond being a war criminal, Netanyahu, who is the butcher of Gaza right now, will be tried as the butcher of Gaza, just as Milosevic was tried," Erdogan said, in reference to Yugoslav ex-President Slobodan Milosevic who was tried for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes at a tribunal in The Hague.

"Those who try to skip over the deaths of all those innocent people by using the excuse of Hamas have nothing left to say to humanity," he added.

Disclaimer: WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing developments on the Israel-Palestine conflict after the Hamas attacks. However, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.