Closing Summary
On Thursday, the international criminal court issued warrants for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024”.
It is the first time that leaders of a democracy and western-aligned state have been charged by the court, in the most momentous decision of its 22-year history. Netanyahu and Gallant are at risk of arrest if they travel to any of the 124 countries that signed the Rome statute establishing the court.
By Friday, countries including Ireland and Slovenia said it would be prepared to arrest Netanyahu if he came to the country, while the UK signalled it would also. Number 10 refused to explicitly comment on “hypotheticals” but said the UK would follow its “legal obligations”.
Hungary defied the arrest warrant and invited Netanyahu to visit, and the US said they “fundamentally reject” the ICC’s arrest warrants for senior Israel officials, and said the court does not have jurisdiction over the matter.
In other developments:
Israel’s military said on Friday it had killed five Hamas militants, including two commanders, in an overnight raid in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahia, where Palestinian medics reported dozens killed or missing.
Five medics were killed in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon on Friday, the Lebanese health ministry said.
The German government’s position on delivering weapons to Israel is “unchanged” after the ICC issued arrest warrants. About 30% of global arms exports to Israel come from Germany, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
A humanitarian disaster in Gaza is being deepened by a total breakdown in law and order and the conflict between Israel and Hamas is rendering the territory uninhabitable, a senior official of the main UN aid agency there, Unrwa, said on Friday.
Israeli authorities will stop holding Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank under administrative detention, or incarceration without trial, the defence ministry announced Friday.
Italian foreign minister blames Hezbollah for Unifil attack
Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani said the attack was likely to have been by Hezbollah.
“From what we can tell, it seems to be two missiles that were launched by Hezbollah,” he told reporters in Turin. “Once again, what is happening is unacceptable.”
Neither the defence ministry or prime minister Giorgia Meloni have commented on who was to blame.
