Middle East latest: Netanyahu denounces international court arrest warrant against him

The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and Hamas officials, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity

Middle East latest: Netanyahu denounces international court arrest warrant against himBy The Associated PressThe Associated Press

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants on Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and Hamas officials, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The announcement came as health officials in the Gaza Strip said the death toll from the 13-month-old war between Israel and Hamas has surpassed 44,000.

Netanyahu condemned the arrest warrant against him, saying Israel “rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions.” In a statement released by his office, he said: “There is nothing more just than the war that Israel has been waging in Gaza.”

On Thursday, the Health Ministry in Gaza said 44,056 people have been killed and 104,268 wounded since the start of the war. It has said the real toll is higher because thousands of bodies are buried under rubble or in areas that medics cannot access.

The Gaza Health Ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, but it has said that more than half of the fatalities are women and children. The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

Israel launched its war against Hamas after Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead. Most of the rest were released during a cease-fire last year.

The Israeli offensive has caused heavy destruction across wide areas of the coastal territory and displaced 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people.

Israel has also launched airstrikes against Lebanon after the Hezbollah militant group began firing rockets, drones and missiles into Israel the day after Hamas’ attack last October. A full-blown war erupted in September after nearly a year of lower-level conflict.

More than 3,500 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to the country’s Health Ministry, and over 1 million people have been displaced. It is not known how many of those killed were Hezbollah fighters and how many were civilians.

On the Israeli side, Hezbollah’s aerial attacks have killed more than 70 people and driven some 60,000 from their homes.

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Israeli military opens probe into death of a man in Hezbollah ambush

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military has launched an investigation into the death of a 70-year-old Israeli man who entered Lebanon with Israeli forces and was killed in a Hezbollah ambush.

Investigators are trying to determine, among other things, who allowed Zeev Erlich into the combat zone with the forces and why he was permitted to enter.

According to Israeli media reports, Erlich was not on active duty when he was shot, but was wearing a military uniform and had a weapon. The army said he was a reservist with the rank of major and identified him as a “fallen soldier” when it announced his death.

Erlich was a well-known West Bank settler and researcher of Jewish history. Media reports said Erlich was permitted to enter Lebanon to explore a local archaeological site.

The army said a 20-year-old soldier was killed in the same incident, while an officer was badly wounded.

The army announced Thursday that the chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, has appointed a team of experts “to examine and strengthen operational discipline and military culture” following the incident.

It said its commander for northern Israel, Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin, would launch a separate “command inquiry,” while Israeli military police conduct a separate probe. Such investigations can lead to criminal charges.

At least 29 killed by Israeli strikes across Lebanon, state media reports

BEIRUT — At least 29 people were killed Thursday in Israeli strikes on different towns and villages across Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry and state-run media.

In eastern Lebanon, Israeli airstrikes killed 26 people in six different towns in Baalbek province, the health ministry and the National News Agency said.

In Tyre province, southern Lebanon, three people were killed in an Israeli strike, the health ministry said.

The health ministry Wednesday said that over 3,550 people have been killed in the 13-month war between Hezbollah and Israel, the majority following Israel’s escalation in late September.

EU foreign policy chief says ICC arrest warrants are binding on all bloc members

The European Union’s foreign policy chief has underlined that the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas officials are a legal and not political matter, and that they are binding on all 27 EU member countries and other signatories to the ICC to implement.

“The tragedy in Gaza has to stop,” Josep Borrell told reporters during a visit to Jordan. “It is not a political decision. It is the decision of an international court of justice, and the decision of the court has to be respected, and implemented.”

“This decision is a binding decision on all state parties of the court, which include all members of the European Union,” he added.

Turkey’s ruling party welcomes warrant against Netanyahu

ANKARA — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling partyhas welcomed the decision by the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamn Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, calling it a judgement made for the sake of “humanity.”

Omer Celik, spokesman for the Erdogan’s party, said on the social media platform X that Netanyahu and Gallant would “eventually be held accountable for genocide.” Celik also criticised Israeli officials who described the ICC decision as antisemitic.

Turkey is among the most vocal critics of Israel’s military actions in Gaza and has submitted a formal request to join a genocide case that South Africa has filed against Israel at the U.N.’s International Court of Justice.

Dutch minister says his country would arrest Netanyahu if he visits

Dutch foreign minister Caspar Veldkamp, whose country hosts the International Criminal Court, has confirmed The Netherlands would arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he arrived on Dutch soil.

“The line from the government is clear. We are obliged to cooperate with the ICC … we abide 100% by the Rome Statute,” he said in response to a question in parliament Thursday.

Other European officials were more cautious.

In France, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry said he supported the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor but declined to comment when asked more specifically if France would arrest Netanyahu if he were to step on French soil.

“Today, combating impunity is our priority. We ratified the ICC Statute in 2000 and have consistently supported the court’s actions. Our response will align with these principles,” Christophe Lemoine told reporters at a press conference.

Lemoine added that the warrants were “a complex legal issue … It’s a situation that requires a lot of legal precautions.”

In Italy, the foreign and justice ministries didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment about whether Italy, an ICC member which hosted the Rome conference that gave birth to the court, would honor the arrest warrant.

Premier Giorgia Meloni hosted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in March 2023 and has strongly supported Israel since Oct. 7, while providing humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza.

Israeli president says arrest warrants signal “dark day for justice”

JERUSALEM — Israel’s mostly ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, has called the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “a dark day for justice. A dark day for humanity.”

In a post on X, he said the international court “has chosen the side of terror and evil over democracy and freedom, and turned the very system of justice into a human shield for Hamas’ crimes against humanity.”

Israel Katz, Israel’s new defense minister, said the decision was “a moral disgrace, entirely tainted by antisemitism, and drags the international judicial system to an unprecedented low.” He said it “serves Iran, the head of the snake, and its proxies.”

Benny Gantz, a retired general and political rival to Netanyahu, also condemned the decision, saying it showed “moral blindness” and was a “shameful stain of historic proportion that will never be forgotten.”

Hamas welcomes warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant

Hamas has welcomed the decision by the International Criminal Court to issue warrants against Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant, calling it an “important and historic precedent” after what it said was decades of injustice at the hands of a “fascist occupation.”

The statement did not refer to the warrants issued for the militant group’s own leaders.

Hamas called on all nations to “cooperate with the court in bringing the Zionist war criminals, Netanyahu and Gallant, to justice, and to work immediately to stop the crimes of genocide against innocent civilians in the Gaza Strip.”

Bakeries reopen in central Gaza after flour shortages

DEIR AL-BALAH, The Gaza Strip — Bakeries have reopened in the central Gaza Strip after being closed for several days because of flour shortages.

The shortages appear to have been linked to the looting of nearly 100 truckloads of aid by armed men in southern Gaza last weekend.

Associated Press footage showed a crowd of hundreds pushing and shouting outside a bakery in the central city of Deir al-Balah on Thursday. The day before the reopening, the price of a bag of 15 loaves of pita bread had climbed above $13.

“In my house, there is not a morsel of bread, and the children are hungry,” said Sultan Abu Sultan, who was displaced from northern Gaza during the war.

The amount of aid entering Gaza plunged in October as Israel launched a major offensive in the isolated north, where experts say famine may be underway.

Hunger is widespread across the territory, even in central Gaza where aid groups have more access. Humanitarian organizations say Israeli restrictions, ongoing fighting and the breakdown of law and order make it difficult to deliver assistance.

Israel’s offensive, launched after Hamas’ October 2023 attack, has displaced around 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people. Hundreds of thousands are crammed into tent camps with little in the way of public services and are reliant on international food aid.

Cyprus says EU must no longer stand by as an observer to the MidEast

NICOSIA — The president of Cyprus says the European Union must play a bigger role in the Middle East as it can no longer stand by as an observer.

President Nikos Christodoulides said the 27-member bloc needs to establish closer ties with countries that bolster regional stability like Egypt, Jordan and the Gulf states.

“The conflict in the Middle East is taking place on the EU’s doorstep, in an area of vital interest to the bloc’s interests, where any escalation or regional spillover will have significant consequences on its security and stability,” Christodoulides told an Economist conference in the Cypriot capital.

Christodoulides said EU member Cyprus for years has tried to get this message across to Brussels. The island nation earlier this year was the staging ground for a maritime corridor delivering some 20,000 tons of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

The EU is wracked by members’ divisions over how peace should come about in the Middle East

International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Hamas officials

THE HAGUE — The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants on Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and Hamas officials, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the war in Gaza and the October 2023 attacks that triggered Israel’s offensive in the Palestinian territory.

The decision turns Netanyahu and the others into internationally wanted suspects and is likely to further isolate them and complicate efforts to negotiate a cease-fire to end the 13-month conflict.

But its practical implications could be limited since Israel and its major ally, the United States, are not members of the court and several of the Hamas officials have been subsequently killed in the conflict.

Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders have previously condemned ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan’s request for the warrants as disgraceful and antisemitic. U.S. President Joe Biden also blasted the prosecutor and expressed support for Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas. Hamas also slammed the request.

Death toll in Gaza surpasses 44,000, local officials say

The death toll in the Gaza Strip from the 13-month-old war between Israel and Hamas has surpassed 44,000, local health officials said Thursday.

The Health Ministry said 44,056 people have been killed and 104,268 wounded since the start of the war. It has said the real toll is higher because thousands of bodies are buried under rubble or in areas that medics cannot access.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead. Most of the rest were released during a cease-fire last year.

Around 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people have been displaced, often multiple times, and hundreds of thousands are living in squalid tent camps with little food, water or basic services.

Israel says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames their deaths on Hamas because the militants operate in residential areas, where they have built tunnels, rocket launchers and other military infrastructure.

Rocket from Lebanon kills 1, wounds 2 others in northern Israel

JERUSALEM — A rocket fired from Lebanon killed a man and wounded two others in northern Israel on Thursday, according to the Magen David Adom rescue service.

The service said paramedics found the body of the man in his 30s near a playground in the town of Nahariya, near the border with Lebanon, after a rocket attack on Thursday.

Israel meanwhile struck targets in southern Lebanon and several buildings south of Beirut, the Lebanese capital, after warning people to evacuate.

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