ICC issues arrest warrant for Netanyahu, Hamas leaders

The International Criminal Court on Thursday issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and the head of Hamas’s armed wing Mohammed Deif for war crimes and crimes against humanity .

“The Chamber issued arrest warrants against two individuals, Mr. Benyamin Netanyahu and Mr. Yoav Gallant, for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed at least from October 8, 2023 until May 20, 2024. less, the day the prosecution filed the requests for arrest warrants,” the ICC, which sits in The Hague, said in a statement, adding in another statement that a warrant was also issued against Mohammed Deif.

The arrest warrants were classified “secret” in order to protect witnesses and ensure the conduct of investigations, the court said.

But “the chamber considers that it is in the interest of the victims and their families that they are informed of the existence of the warrants,” she explained.

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan in May asked the court to issue arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant (who was fired in early November by the Israeli prime minister) for war crimes and crimes against humanity suspected in Gaza.

Mr. Khan also requested arrest warrants for senior Hamas leaders, including Mohammed Deif, on suspicion of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

According to Israel, Deif was killed in a July 13 strike in southern Gaza, although Hamas denies his death.

Triggered on October 7, 2023 after an attack of unprecedented scale by Hamas on Israeli soil, the war in Gaza spread to Lebanon, where the pro-Iranian movement Hezbollah opened a “support front” for the Palestinian movement.

After discussions in Beirut with a view to obtaining a truce between the Israeli army and Hezbollah, the special envoy of the American president, Amos Hochstein, is to meet Thursday in Israel with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at 12:30 p.m. (5 30 p.m. Eastern Time).

According to Israeli media, Mr. Hochstein landed in Israel on Wednesday evening and spoke with Ron Dermer, Minister of Strategic Affairs and confidant of the Israeli Prime Minister.

In the Gaza Strip, Civil Defense announced Thursday the death of 22 people killed overnight by an Israeli strike on a neighborhood in Gaza City (North).

“We confirm that 22 martyrs were transferred [vers des hôpitaux] after a strike aimed at [une] maison […] to Cheikh Radwan,” Mahmoud Bassal, spokesperson for the organization, told AFP.

“Here there is a martyr and a headless body. We don’t know who it is until now,” Moataz Al-Arouqi, a Palestinian from the neighborhood, told AFPTV.

Another strike that occurred around midnight (5 p.m. Eastern time) in the area of ​​Beit Lahia and Jabalia (north) left dozens dead, according to medical sources.

“There are dozens of dead and missing under the rubble,” Hossam Abou Safiyeh, director of the Kamal Adwa hospital near which the strike took place, told AFP.

“Bodies arrive at the hospital in tatters,” he added, specifying that the health system was “on the ground in northern Gaza”.

“Total cessation of aggression”

The war in the Palestinian territory was launched in response to the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 in Israel, which resulted in the death of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data, including hostages killed or died in captivity.

That day, 251 people were kidnapped. In total, 97 remain hostages in Gaza, including 34 declared dead by the army.

In retaliation, the Israeli army launched a massive bombing campaign followed by a ground offensive in Gaza, which left at least 43,985 dead, mostly civilians, according to data from the Hamas Ministry of Health, considered reliable. by the UN.

The United States, Israel’s ally, on Wednesday blocked the UN Security Council from calling for an “immediate, unconditional and permanent” ceasefire in Gaza, despite international calls for an end to the conflict .

In Lebanon, Israel and Hezbollah entered into open war on September 23 after a year of cross-border fire, and the Israeli army has been carrying out incursions into the south of the country since September 30.

Israel says it wants to distance Hezbollah from the border regions of southern Lebanon to allow the return of some 60,000 residents of northern Israel displaced by the movement’s fire. In Lebanon, tens of thousands of residents have also been displaced.

The American ambassador to Beirut, Lisa Johnson, presented last Thursday to the Lebanese Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, and the head of Parliament, Nabih Berri, a 13-point plan providing for a 60-day truce and the deployment of the army in southern Lebanon.

In this context, envoy Amos Hochstein went to Beirut on Tuesday where he declared that a solution was “within reach”, but that it was up to the belligerents to “decide”.

Israel “cannot impose its conditions on us”, warned the leader of Hezbollah, Naïm Qassem, on Wednesday, saying he demanded “a total end to the aggression” in Lebanon.

Mr. Netanyahu warned on Monday that Israel “will carry out[it] military operations against Hezbollah even in the event of a truce.

“Very violent strike”

Meanwhile, Israeli bombings continue in Lebanon on Hezbollah strongholds. New strikes targeted the southern suburbs of Beirut on Thursday morning, shortly after a call from the Israeli army to evacuate.

Several areas in the south of the country were targeted, including the town of Khiam, located about six kilometers from the border, where clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli forces had broken out the day before, according to the Lebanese National Information Agency ( ANI).

On Thursday morning, the army’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, issued calls to evacuate residents of three areas near the southern city of Tyre.

Violence between Israel and Hezbollah has caused more than 3,550 deaths in Lebanon since October 2023, most since the start of the massive Israeli bombing campaign on September 23. On the Israeli side, 79 soldiers and 46 civilians were killed in 13 months.