ICC issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant as Israel kills 88 in Gaza

The arrest warrant issued against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the war on Gaza does not bar UN officials from meeting with him in the course of their work, the UN said Thursday.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Netanyahu have not spoken since the Gaza war started in October 2023, although there have been contacts with the Israeli leader by UN officials in the region.

Guterres has been declared persona non grata by Israel, which accuses him of being biased in favour of the Palestinians. So talks between him and Netanyahu are very unlikely.

After the warrants issued Thursday by the International Criminal Court against Netanyahu, former defence minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas's military chief Mohammed Deif, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said UN policy on contacts with people facing arrest warrants dates back to a document issued in 2013.

"The rule is that there should not be any contacts between UN officials and individuals subject to arrest warrants," Dujarric said.

But limited contacts are allowed "to address fundamental issues, operational issues, and our ability to carry out our mandates," he added.

In late October, at a summit of the BRICS countries in Russia, Guterres met with President Vladimir Putin, who faces an arrest warrant from the ICP over the war in Ukraine.

That meeting, during which Guterres reiterated his condemnation of the Russian invasion, angered Ukraine.

The Civil Defence in Gaza has said that 15 children and women in Gaza have been poisoned by canned food left behind by Israeli forces.

The food was found by the casualties in the Shuja'iyah area of northern Gaza, where Israel has imposed an intensified siege and carried out furious airstrikes, in what is believed to be an attempt to kill, starve, or expel the remaining inhabitants

“We urge citizens to exercise caution when encountering such canned goods, especially dairy products. Refrain from consuming them, as the Israeli occupation forces intentionally leave these spoiled items to harm those who consume them,” a Civil Defence statement said.

At least 88 people were killed in Gaza and others unaccounted for on Thursday after Israeli strikes, on the day the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the war.

One strike near the Kamal Adwan hospital in the north of the territory left "dozens of people" dead or missing, the facility's director Hossam Abu Safiya told AFP.

Al-Jazeera reported that 66 people were killed on a residential area in Beit Lahiya, the Al-Jazeera television network reported.

Another strike was reported in a neighbourhood of Gaza City, with civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal saying 22 were dead.

"There is a headless body. We don't yet know who this is," Moataz al-Arouqi, who lives in the area, told AFP.

Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said Thursday his country would be obliged to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visited, after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant.

Crosetto told RAI television's Porta a Porta programme that he believed the ICC was "wrong" but said that if Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant "were to come to Italy, we would have to arrest them" under international law.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court would not stop him from "defending" Israel.

"No outrageous anti-Israel decision will prevent us - and it will not prevent me - from continuing to defend our country in every way," Netanyahu said in a video statement. "We will not yield to pressure," he added.

 The Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp's trip to Israel has been postponed, the ministry said on Thursday, confirming an earlier report by Dutch News Agency ANP.

"Under the current circumstances it has been decided not to go to Israel now", it said in a statement, adding that this was decided in consultation with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.

Earlier on Thursday, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants to, among others, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence minister Yoav Gallant, which the Netherlands has said it would comply with if they came to the country. 

The Palestinian Authority welcomed the International Criminal Court's arrest warrants on Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister, for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

"The ICC's decision represents hope and confidence in international law and its institutions," it said in a statement published by official Palestinian news agency Wafa, and urged ICC members to enforce "a policy of severing contact and meetings with internationally wanted individuals, Netanyahu and (Yoav) Gallant".

At least 47 were killed and 22 wounded in Israeli strikes on Lebanon's Baalbek-Hermel governorate on Thursday, the governor Bachir Khodr said on X, adding that rescue operations were still underway. 

At least 47 people were killed and 22 wounded in a series of Israeli airstrikes in the Bekaa Valley, according to Bachir Khodr, Governor of Baalbek-Hermel. "Everything was targeted," Khodr said in a tweet. pic.twitter.com/dANTGIli9w

— Ariel Oseran (@ariel_oseran) November 21, 2024

Israeli attacks have killed at least 3,583 people and wounded 15,244 in Lebanon since October 2023, with 25 fatalities reported on Wednesday, the Lebanese health ministry said on Thursday.

Turkey's top diplomat on Thursday hailed as "a very important step" an ICC decision to issue arrest warrants for Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister over Israel's actions in Gaza.

"This decision is an extremely important step in bringing to justice the Israeli authorities who committed genocide against Palestinians," Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan wrote on X.

Uluslararası Ceza Mahkemesi’nin Netanyahu ve Gallant hakkında açıkladığı tutuklama emri, adaletin tecellisi bakımından umut vericidir.

Bu karar, Filistinlilere soykırım uygulayan İsrailli yetkililerin adalet önüne getirilmesi bakımından son derece önemli bir adımdır.…

— Hakan Fidan (@HakanFidan) November 21, 2024

 International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan urged ICC members as well as non-members to cooperate with the arrest warrants the court issued earlier on Thursday against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas leader Mohammed Deif, Khan said in a statement on Thursday.

The International Criminal Court's arrest warrant against Hamas's military chief Mohammed Deif is a sign victims are being heard, a representative for families of the victims of the October 7 Hamas attacks said Thursday.

The ICC earlier Thursday issued a warrant for Deif, believing there were grounds to suspect him of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the Palestiniangroup's October 7 attacks against Israel.

"This arrest warrant against Mr Deif is massively significant. It means these victims' voices are being heard," said Yael Vias Gvirsman, who represents the families of 300 Israeli victims of the attacks.

"This court bears a great responsibility. For us this is just the first steps. It's a long process," added Gvirsman, who is also a lawyer representing victims at the ICC.

Israel says it has killed him but Hamas has not yet confirmed his death. The court said the prosecutor could not determine whether he was still alive, so it issued the warrants.

The ICC also issued warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant.

Gvirsman said her clients' feelings on that were "very mixed".

"There is some shock. In terms of Israel facing these arrest warrants, the best thing is to face reality," she said.

"An international court of law has issued a binding decision. I think the best thing to do now is to closely cooperate with the prosecutor."

The International Criminal Court decision Thursday to issue arrest warrants issued against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister "ignores" their country's right to defend itself, Argentina's leader said.

Argentina "declares its deep disagreement" with the decision, which "ignores Israel's legitimate right to self-defense against the constant attacks by terrorist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah," President Javier Milei said in a statement on the X social media network.

Israeli strikes killed 79 pro-Iran fighters, including from Iraq and Lebanon, in the Syrian city of Palmyra, a monitor said Thursday, updating the toll for the raids a day earlier.

The toll was "the highest due to Israeli raids on pro-Iran groups in Syria since the start of the conflict" in the country in 2011, said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Britain-based Observatory said Wednesday's strikes targeted three sites in Palmyra -- a modern city adjacent to renowned Greco-Roman ruins -- including one that hit a meeting of pro-Iranian groups with leaders from Iraq's Al-Nujaba group and Lebanon's Hezbollah.

The death toll has risen to "79 pro-Iran fighters", 53 of them Syrians, 22 foreign nationals "mostly from the Iraqi Al-Nujaba movement", in addition to "four from Hezbollah", said the Observatory, updating an earlier toll of 71 dead.

Syria's defence ministry said Wednesday the Israeli strikes on the city in central Syria killed 36 people and wounded more than 50 others.

Also Wednesday, Syria's foreign ministry condemned "in the strongest terms the brutal Israeli aggression against the city of Palmyra, which reflects the continuing crimes of Zionism against the countries of the region and their peoples".

Successive rounds of Israeli strikes hit Hezbollah's southern Beirut stronghold Thursday after Israeli military evacuation warnings, while Hezbollah claimed a series of attacks including on a base near south Israel's Ashdod, its deepest so far.

Lebanon's official National News Agency reported three raids "within the third round of strikes on the southern suburbs today", saying they hit the Haret Hreik and Hadath areas.

It had earlier reported two other rounds of three raids each on the southern suburbs, including a "very violent strike" on Haret Hreik and a raid on the Kafaat neighbourhood that destroyed a building and damaged others nearby.

Footage provided by news agency AFP showed columns of smoke rising from the area, usually a densely populated residential district but now largely emptied.

Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee on social media platform X issued several rounds of evacuation warnings for areas in the southern suburbs, saying the military would target Hezbollah "facilities and interests", pinpointing six buildings.

The Israeli military in a statement said its air force carried out strikes on "Hezbollah command centers and terror infrastructure" in the southern suburbs, which it has hit repeatedly since September 23 when it escalated air raids against the Iran-backed group.

The Netherlands has expressed its readiness to enforce the ICC arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if required, according to Dutch news agency ANP.

Citing Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp, local outlet NOS reported that Netanyahu would face arrest should he set foot on Dutch territory.

Veldkamp also stated in the House of Representatives that the Netherlands would limit "non-essential" contact with Netanyahu, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Mohammed Deif, who are all subjects of ICC arrest warrants issued earlier today.

"The Netherlands implements the Rome Statute 100 percent," the foreign minister said. The signatories of the Rome Statute and members of the ICC are bound to arrest the three if they travel to their country.

France's reaction to the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be in line with the court's statutes, the foreign ministry spokesman said on Thursday, but declined to say whether France would arrest the leader if he came to the country.

When asked during a news conference if France would arrest Netanyahu, Christophe Lemoine said it was a legally complicated question.

"It's a point that is legally complex so I'm not going to comment on it today," he said.

Judges at the ICC on Thursday issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defence chief Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas leader Ibrahim Al-Masri, commonly known as Deif, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Lebanon is seeking changes to a U.S. ceasefire proposal to ensure a speedier withdrawal of Israeli troops from south Lebanon and to give both parties the right to self-defence, a senior Lebanese official told news agency Reuters on Thursday.

Lebanese officials requested the changes during meetings in Beirut this week with U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein, who is working to strike a deal in the waning months of the Biden administration to end the war between Lebanese group Hezbollah and Israel.

The amendments sought by Lebanon, details of which have not previously been reported, indicate Hochstein still has work to do to seal a ceasefire agreement which he said was "within our grasp" during a visit to Beirut on Tuesday.

The Lebanese official told Reuters that Lebanon wanted to see Israeli troops "withdraw immediately after the ceasefire is declared so the Lebanese army can deploy in all areas" and so displaced people could return to their homes.

The official added that the Israeli position was a withdrawal within 60 days of the truce being announced.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sharply criticised the International Criminal Court (ICC) following its arrest warrant against him and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

In a statement from his office, Netanyahu rejected the ruling "with disgust," labelling it as "anti-Semitic."

The statement further condemned the ICC’s findings, claiming Israel "categorically rejects the absurd and false lies" brought against it.

Emphasising his stance, the statement asserted that Netanyahu "will not yield to pressure, will not be deterred, and will not retreat" until Israel achieves all its war objectives.

This strong rejection underscores Israel’s longstanding opposition to ICC jurisdiction over its actions.

Palestinian group Hamas on Thursday welcomed the International Criminal Court's arrest warrants for Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and its former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

"We call on the International Criminal Court to expand the scope of accountability to all criminal occupation leaders," the group said in a statement.

Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Thursday that the International Criminal Court "lost all legitimacy" after it had issued arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister over the Gaza war.

"This is a dark moment for the ICC," Saar wrote on social media platform X, adding: "The body calling itself a 'court' issued absurd orders without authority... even though Israel is not a member of the court."

Former Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman criticised the ICC's decision in a post on X, denouncing it as evidence of the international community’s "double standards and hypocrisy."

Lieberman asserted, "The state of Israel will not apologise for protecting its citizens and is committed to continuing to fight terrorism without compromise."

The International Criminal Court's decision to issue arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant, are a "mark of shame" for the ICC, former prime minister Naftali Bennett said on Thursday.

Israel's main opposition leader Yair Lapid also denounced the move by the Hague-based court, calling it "a reward for terrorism".

There was no immediate comment from Netanyahu or Gallant.

In its statement issued today, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif in connection with alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes during the war on Gaza since October 2023.

The ICC emphasised that the warrants specifically relate to actions in Gaza and Israel, with evidence suggesting these leaders were involved in or responsible for war crimes during the ongoing military operations.

In the case of Mohammed Deif, the ICC also acknowledged recent reports suggesting his possible death, though it stated that such claims are being carefully examined.

The status of Deif's health has added an additional layer of complexity to the investigation, as his role within Hamas is considered central to the ongoing violence.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes.

In a statement issued today, the ICC announced that these charges stem from actions in Gaza and Israel since October 2023.

The ICC said it has also rejected Israel's challenges to its jurisdiction, stating it is reaffirming the Court's authority over the situation in Palestine, including over Israeli nationals.

According to the statement, the arrest warrants were classified as secret to protect investigations and witnesses.

These actions are part of the ongoing ICC investigation into the ongoing conflict and possible war crimes.

Situation in the State of Palestine:#ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I rejects the State of Israel’s challenges to jurisdiction and issues warrants of arrest for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant. Learn more ⤵️ https://t.co/opHUjZG8BL

— Int'l Criminal Court (@IntlCrimCourt) November 21, 2024

The Gaza Health Ministry reports that 44,056 Palestinians have been killed, and 104,268 injured in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since October 7, 2023.

Israeli forces have detained 12 Palestinians across the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society.

The arrests took place in Nablus, Hebron, Ramallah, Bethlehem, and Qalqilya. During the raids, Israeli forces reportedly threatened detainees and their families, and caused damage to their homes.

Since October 7, Israeli forces have carried out 11,700 arrests in nearly daily raids across the West Bank.

Israeli first responders said a man was killed on Thursday after rocket fire from Lebanon hit the northern Galilee region.

"Emergency medical technicians and paramedics have reported a 30-year-old male with no signs of life and have declared him deceased," the Magen David Adom emergency medical service said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Thursday during which they discussed the OPEC+ oil agreement and the situation in the Middle East, the Kremlin said. 

Israeli forces have bombed the Haret Hreik quarter in southern Beirut shortly after ordering residents to evacuate, according to local media reports.

Lebanon’s National News Agency described the attack as a "very violent raid."

Further updates are expected.

A hospital director said Thursday dozens were dead or missing after an Israeli strike in northern Gaza, while rescuers said another strike in the Palestinian territory killed 22 people.

One strike was reported in a residential area near the Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza, which according to hospital director Hossam Abu Safiya killed or left unaccounted for "dozens of people".

The process of retrieving the bodies and wounded continues, he told news agency AFP, adding: "Bodies arrive at the hospital in pieces."

Neither the civil defence agency nor the health ministry in Gaza have confirmed a toll for the strike near the health facility.

"There are no ambulances, the health system has collapsed in northern Gaza," Abu Safiya said.

Meanwhile, Gaza's civil defence agency said 22 people were killed in another strike on Gaza City.

#صورة | تكدس الشهدا..ء داخل ساحة مستشفى كمال عدوان
بعد قصف الاحتلال لمربع سكني على رؤس ساكنيه محيط مستشفى كمال عدوان الطبي شمال قطاع غزة pic.twitter.com/zuvqDwXoR8

— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) November 21, 2024

Hezbollah announced its fighters fired missiles at Israeli troops near Khiam in southern Lebanon and at Al-Amra Gate on the town's southern outskirts.

The group also claimed to have targeted Israeli soldiers with rockets at the al-Ajl Plateau military site, north of the Kfar Yuval settlement in northern Israel.

Israeli strikes killed 71 pro-Iran operatives in the Syrian city of Palmyra, with more than a third of them identified as fighters from Iraq and Lebanon, a monitor said Thursday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said those killed in Wednesday's strikes included 45 fighters from pro-Iran Syrian groups, 26 foreign fighters, most of them from the Iraqi Al-Nujaba movement, and four from Lebanon's Hezbollah armed group.

The strikes targeted three sites in the city renowned for its ancient ruins, including one that hit a meeting of pro-Iranian groups with leaders from Al-Nujaba and Hezbollah.

Syria said the Israeli strikes on the central city killed 36 people and wounded more than 50 others, in the latest toll issued by the defence ministry.

"The Israeli enemy launched an air attack from the direction of the Al-Tanf area, targeting a number of buildings in the city of Palmyra," it said on Wednesday.

In a separate statement, the Syrian foreign ministry condemned "in the strongest terms the brutal Israeli aggression against the city of Palmyra, which reflects the continuing crimes of Zionism against the countries of the region and their peoples".

At least three people were killed and several others injured when Israeli forces bombed the Miraj area in northern Rafah, according to reports from news publication Al Jazeera English.

More updates to come.

Israeli warplanes targeted a building on Abu Dheeb Street in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, according to the National News Agency (NNA).

The attack caused significant material damage, though no injuries were reported, the agency confirmed.

US envoy Amos Hochstein, seeking to broker a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war, will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, the premier's office said.

The announcement by spokesman Omer Dostri came after Israeli media outlets reported that Hochstein had arrived in Israel on Wednesday evening and held talks with Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer.