- The State of Palestine has welcomed the International Criminal Court’s issuing of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over suspected war crimes in Gaza, saying the move “restores hope” in international law.
- Dozens have been killed in strikes by Israel’s military in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya and Gaza City, while Israeli attack helicopters fired missiles at tents sheltering displaced people in the central area of the Palestinian territory.
- Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health said Israeli attacks on the Baalbek region have killed at least 40 people and wounded 52 others. The raids follow after the ministry reported 25 people killed and 121 injured in Israeli attacks over the previous 24 hours.
- Israel’s genocide in Gaza has killed at least 44,056 Palestinians and wounded 104,286 since October 7, 2023. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks that day, and more than 200 were taken captive.
- In Lebanon, at least 3,583 people have been killed and 15,244 wounded in Israeli attacks since the war on Gaza began.
- Dutch district court hears case on weapons transfers to IsraelA district court in The Hague is hearing a case by a coalition of NGOs accusing the Dutch state of failing to prevent genocide in Gaza.Al Jazeera’s Step Vaessen, reporting from outside the court, said the organisations aim to pressure the Netherlands to halt all weapons transfers to Israel and stop trade relations with illegally occupied parts of Palestine.Vaessen said their demands build off of previous decisions by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which earlier this year ruled that the occupation of Palestine is illegal.The International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants issued yesterday against Israel’s Netanyahu and Gallant are expected to add more weight to this case, Vaessen said.
- China urges ICC to take ‘objective’ position after Netanyahu arrest warrantForeign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian says “China hopes the ICC will uphold an objective and just position [and] exercise its powers in accordance with the law”.Jian made the remark at a regular media conference in response to a question about the court’s arrest warrant for Netanyahu.
- Israel’s foreign minister: Iran ‘must not have the most dangerous weapon’Gideon Saar has urged the international community to ramp up pressure on Iran to stop it from developing a nuclear weapon, after the UN’s nuclear agency – the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) – censured Iran for failing to cooperate.“The most dangerous regime in the world must not have the most dangerous weapon,” he wrote on X.Israel, which is widely believed to be a nuclear power despite never confirming it, has long feared its archrival Iran achieving the same status.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said an Israeli air attack on Iran last month struck a “component” of Tehran’s nuclear programme.Iran reacted defiantly to the IAEA censure, saying it would launch a series of “new and advanced centrifuges” in response.
- Iranian experts inspect the nuclear plant in the central Iranian city of Isfahan which is used as an uranium conversion facility (UCF) [File: EPA]
- Orban to invite Netanyahu to Hungary in defiance of ICC arrest warrantHungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban says he will invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit his country, saying he will guarantee that an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Netanyahu will “not be observed”.Orban, whose country holds the European Union’s rotating six-month presidency, told state radio that the ICC’s arrest warrant was “wrong” and said the Israeli leader would be able to conduct negotiations in Hungary “in adequate safety”.“Today I will invite Israel’s prime minister, Mr Netanyahu, for a visit to Hungary and in that invite I will guarantee him that if he comes, the ICC ruling will have no effect in Hungary, and we will not follow its contents,” Orban said.Since Orban and his nationalist Fidesz party swept to power in 2010, he and Netanyahu have forged close political relations.Netanyahu visited Budapest in 2017.
- Israeli strikes in southern Beirut ‘strategy’ to keep residents outReporting from Beirut, LebanonThe Israeli military has resumed its bombardment of Beirut’s southern suburbs. There have been at least four Israeli strikes in the last hour or so.The Israeli military did issue forced evacuation orders, but the neighbourhoods in the southern suburbs are largely empty. These strikes are really part of a strategy to prevent people from returning to their homes.But Israel is also carrying out strikes without issuing prior warnings. Yesterday was deadly and violent across eastern and southern Lebanon. We are seeing an escalation.Also this morning, there were more evacuation orders in and around the southern city of Tyre. Israel has really been focusing its strikes on the western sector of southern Lebanon as its troops try to advance from the border.Hezbollah is still fighting back. This morning it issued a statement saying they targeted an Israeli tank in the village of Chamaa, 6km (3.7 miles) from the border in the western sector.
LIVE: State of Palestine lauds ICC arrest warrants for Israeli leaders
