Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s long-running trial on a host of corruption charges resumes following a two-month halt due to the regime’s war on Gaza.
Netanyahu faces charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust in one case. In two other cases, he faces similar charges of fraud and breach of trust.
Prosecutors say between 2007 and 2016 Netanyahu allegedly received gifts valued at $195,000 in exchange for financial or personal favors.
Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing.
A court in al-Quds was to start hearing the case on Monday.
Bribery charges carry a sentence of up to 10 years in jail and/or a fine. Fraud and breach of trust carry a prison sentence of up to three years.
When the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas launched its surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the regime on October 7, the trial was paused on an emergency order from the Israeli justice minister.
In the event, Netanyahu ordered Israeli military forces to attack the besieged Gaza Strip with a force “like never before.”
Israel has so far killed more than 15,500 people, according to the Gaza health ministry. 70 percent of those killed are women and children.
Netanyahu said on Saturday that the air and ground invasion of the besieged Palestinian territory will continue “until we achieve all our goals.”
The regime’s longest-serving prime minister is now facing calls for war crime investigations.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has repeatedly called for Netanyahu to be tried at the International Criminal Court (ICC), said on Monday that “Netanyahu, who is the butcher of Gaza right now, will be tried as the butcher of Gaza.”
The ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said in November his office had received a referral from five countries to investigate Israel’s war crimes in the Palestinian territories. South Africa, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Comoros, and Djibouti submitted the referral, according to Khan.
