Summary of the day …
Israel’s defence minister Yoav Gallant has again issued criticism of the international criminal court (ICC) decision to seek arrest warrants for senior Israeli and Hamas figures involved in the conflict in Gaza, saying that the move was an “attempt to deny the state of Israel the right to defend itself”. Gallant said the “prosecutor’s parallel between the terrorist organization Hamas and the state of Israel is despicable and disgusting.”
Benjamin Netanyahu and Gallant are accused of extermination, causing starvation as a method of war, the denial of humanitarian relief supplies and deliberately targeting civilians. Hamas leaders and officials Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh were named by the court as being wanted for crimes of extermination, murder, hostage taking, rape, sexual assault and torture. Israel’s president Isaac Herzog described the court’s action as “one-sided” and in “bad faith”.
UK prime minister Rishi Sunak has said a request by ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan for arrest warrants to be issued for Israeli and Hamas leaders was “deeply unhelpful” and would make no difference to securing a “pause” in fighting or the release of hostages.
Australia’s government says it respects the international criminal court’s “important” and “independent” role in upholding the law. A foreign affairs spokesperson said it was not appropriate to comment on matters before the court but added that Israel must comply with international laws, noting “every country is bound by the same fundamental rules” while defending itself.
Individual members of Israel’s security forces are tipping off far-right activists and settlers to the location of aid trucks delivering vital supplies to Gaza, enabling the groups to block and vandalise the convoys, according to multiple sources. Settlers intercepting the vital humanitarian supplies to the strip are receiving information about the location of the aid trucks from members of the Israeli police and military, a spokesperson from the main Israeli activist group behind the blockades told the Guardian.
Israeli officials seized a camera and broadcasting equipment belonging to the Associated Press in southern Israel on Tuesday, the news agency has reported. It said authorities used the new foreign media law brought in during Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to stop it broadcasting a view of the Gaza border from Sderot. The feed was available to Al Jazeera, the news organisation that Israel banned on 5 May.
Palestinian sources have reported that seven people have been killed and nine others wounded during an Israeli raid. The dead reportedly included a teacher and a senior doctor at the local hospital. Israel’s military says it was conducting an operation against militants. Photojournalist Amr Manasra was shot during the raid.
The health ministry in Gaza, which is led by Hamas, has said that 35,647 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by Israel’s military action since 7 October, with 79,852 wounded. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
1,300 faculty and administrative staff at Israeli academic institutions have signed an open letter and petition calling on Netanyahu’s government to end the war in Gaza and secure the release of hostages held by Hamas.
Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said on Tuesday Gaza ceasefire and hostage release talks between Israel and Hamas remain “close to a stalemate”.
Crowds gathered in Tabriz in Iran to pay respects to president Ebrahim Raisi, foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other officials killed in the helicopter crash at the weekend.
Here are some of the latest images sent to us over the news wires from Gaza, Israel and the occupied West Bank.
