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ICC arrest warrants for Israel’s Netanyahu and Gallant, Hamas’s Deif

ICC arrest warrants for Israel’s Netanyahu and Gallant, Hamas’s Deif
By Lyndal Rowlands, Zaheena Rasheed, Alastair McCready, Stephen Quillen, Ylenia Gostoli, Urooba Jamal, Maziar Motamedi and Farah Najjar
Published On 21 Nov 2024

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21 Nov 2024 - 23:59
 (23:59 GMT)

Thanks for joining us

To find out about some of the latest deadly Israeli attacks on Lebanon as ceasefire talks, once again, led to no breakthroughs, read this.

To find out more about how the world reacted to the ICC issuing arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders, check out our story here.

And you can always see our latest coverage of the war on Gaza here.

21 Nov 2024 - 23:45
 (23:45 GMT)

Here’s what happened today

We will be closing this live page soon. Here’s a brief overview of the day’s main events.

  • The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif.
  • Many countries welcomed the ICC move, saying they will abide by the court’s decision, while Israel and its main ally, the US, have slated the development.
  • Israeli forces have continued to pound Gaza, killing at least 88 Palestinians in attacks on northern and central Gaza.
  • Israeli forces also stepped up attacks on Lebanon, with intense bombardment reported in Tyre and Lebanon’s eastern district of Baalbek, where more than 47 people were killed.
  • In the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces killed two Palestinians in the village of Kafr Dan and another in the Ein Beit el-Ma refugee camp near the city of Nablus.
  • The US Senate has voted overwhelmingly to reject several bills that would have blocked the shipments of tank rounds, mortar rounds and smart-bomb kits to Israel.
21 Nov 2024 - 23:30
 (23:30 GMT)
Developing

Medical staff wounded after Israeli forces target Kamal Adwan Hospital

A spokesman for the civil defence in Gaza told Al Jazeera that Israeli forces have targeted medical crews in the Kamal Adwan Hospital to force them out of the besieged north of the Palestinian territory.

Our correspondents on the ground in Gaza confirmed that drones bombed the generators of the hospital, causing injuries among the medical staff.

The Israeli army also hit areas surrounding the hospital, which has been attacked and besieged multiple times since the start of the war on Gaza.

21 Nov 2024 - 23:15
 (23:15 GMT)

WATCH: Al Jazeera journalist says he was deliberately targeted in Gaza

Al Jazeera journalist Hossam Shabat says he was deliberately targeted and wounded by an Israeli air strike while reporting in the Gaza Strip.

“We throw fear and anxiety behind our backs and did not hesitate to document these crimes,” he said, adding that targeted attacks are part of Israel’s plans to hit Gaza journalists to keep the truth from getting out.

21 Nov 2024 - 23:00
 (23:00 GMT)

Israeli soldier killed in north Gaza fighting

The Israeli military has confirmed that another one of its soldiers was killed while fighting in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.

The army named the soldier as Staff Sergeant Ron Epshtein, of the Givati Brigade.

He was killed by shrapnel from an artillery shell in Jabalia in an incident that also saw two other soldiers lightly wounded, according to The Times of Israel, which cited an unnamed military source.

21 Nov 2024 - 22:50
 (22:50 GMT)

Czech prime minister defends Israel after ICC arrest warrants

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala has rejected the ICC decision to issue arrest warrants for Israel’s Netanyahu and Gallant.

“The ICC’s unfortunate ruling undermines authority in other cases by equating the elected representatives of a democratic state with the leaders of an Islamist terrorist organisation,” he wrote in a post on X.

Leader of Civic Democratic Party [ODS] Petr Fiala, who has been Czech prime minister since 2021 [Bernadett Szabo/Reuters]
21 Nov 2024 - 22:40
 (22:40 GMT)

Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon’s Nabatieh kill at least 7

We reported earlier that the Israeli military intensified attacks on Nabatieh in southern Lebanon late into the evening.

The country’s Ministry of Health now reports that at least seven people were killed and 24 others were wounded today as a result of Israeli attacks in Nabatieh.

The highest number of fatalities was recorded in the village of Arabsalim, which has been repeatedly hit in recent days. At least four people were killed there and nine were wounded, according to the ministry.

21 Nov 2024 - 22:30
 (22:30 GMT)

Israeli military reports no casualties after drone detected in Negev

The Israeli military reports that its air defences detected a “suspicious aerial target” in the southern Negev desert region.

It said the incident was over and there were no casualties, but did not elaborate.

This comes after the Islamic Resistance in Iraq umbrella group of Iran-aligned armed forces reported launching a drone towards southern Israel.

21 Nov 2024 - 22:20
 (22:20 GMT)
Analysis

Israel’s actions in the region ‘a very serious situation’

Francis Boyle, a professor of international law at the University of Illinois, calls the ICC’s latest move a “very important precedent”.

“In my opinion, if the ICC had prosecuted Israeli leaders after Operation Cast Lead … maybe all of this could have been avoided, if prosecutions were initiated 15 years ago,” Boyle told Al Jazeera.

Boyle said the Biden administration is guilty of “aiding and abetting Israeli war crimes, crimes against humanity, and outright genocide against the Palestinians”.

He said this is a “far more serious genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza than was inflicted on the Bosnians,” referring to the timeframes of each genocide in comparison with the number of people killed.

Israel is now “extending this to Lebanon, and it does appear the [occupied] West Bank is next in its sights,” Boyle said. “It’s a very serious situation.”

21 Nov 2024 - 22:10
 (22:10 GMT)

Netanyahu spokesperson to remain in custody after indictment

The spokesperson for Netanyahu who had a court session earlier today for being involved in a secret document leak case will remain in police custody at least until Wednesday after having an indictment issued against him.

Eli Feldstein was indicted on charges of harming state security amid the scandal surrounding the leak of classified documents to benefit the prime minister. He has been in custody since late October.

Details from the indictment show that Netanyahu may have been made aware of Feldstein’s leak of documents, which benefitted his public image amid public anger about his handling of efforts to return Israeli captives still held in Gaza, according to The Times of Israel.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has seen one of his top aides implicated in a serious scandal concerning the leak of classified documents to foreign media [Ohad Zwigenberg/AP Photo]
21 Nov 2024 - 22:00
 (22:00 GMT)

Israeli forces launch series of strikes on Lebanon’s Nabatieh

Israeli warplanes and artillery weapons launched a string of night-time raids on Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, according to the country’s National News Agency (NNA).

The village of Ainata saw at least 10 artillery shells falling from Israeli positions while the city of Bint Jbeil was hit with at least six shells. The towns of Hanine and Kunin were targeted as well.

NNA reported that Israeli jets dropped bombs on the town of Yahmar al-Shaqif and the village of Arnoun as well. There are no reports on potential casualties yet.

21 Nov 2024 - 21:50
 (21:50 GMT)

‘Restores hope’: Palestine welcomes ICC arrest warrants

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has welcomed the ICC decision to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant some six months after its chief prosecutor requested them.

“It affirmed that the ICC’s decision restores hope and trust not only in international law along with UN institutions but also in the importance of justice, accountability and prosecution of war criminals, particularly at a time when the Palestinian people is still subject [to] genocide,” it said in a statement.

The ministry also called on the member states of the ICC and the UN to halt communications and meetings with the two Israeli leaders.

21 Nov 2024 - 21:40
 (21:40 GMT)

Israeli military says missile launched from Yemen intercepted

The Israeli military says in a short statement that a missile launched from Yemen was successfully intercepted by air defences.

According to the army, the projectile was shot down outside Israeli borders. The announcement came after sirens sounded in the Dead Sea area.

The armed forces of the Houthis in Yemen, who have been launching attacks on Israeli interests in a stated effort to stop the onslaught on Palestinians and Lebanese, have not made an announcement.

21 Nov 2024 - 21:30
 (21:30 GMT)

Thousands of Hebron students forced to drop out of schools due to Israeli restrictions

The latest statement by OCHA that we reported on earlier also says many Palestinian students are dropping out of schools in the Israeli-controlled H2 area of Hebron city in the occupied West Bank “due to intensified access restrictions”.

The UN says there are more than 13,000 students in H2 who have not attended school in person between October 2023 and May 2024.

Due to Israeli movement restrictions, some students and teachers are forced to take detours through areas used by Israeli settlers, who have engaged in intensifying daily attacks against Palestinians since the start of the war.

Some of the classes have been shifted online, but many families have had limited or no access to the internet or remote electronic devices.

Since October last year, at least 330 Palestinians, including 40 children, across H2 have been detained at checkpoints during search-and-arrest operations, or by ad hoc detentions by Israeli forces, according to the UN.

21 Nov 2024 - 21:20
 (21:20 GMT)

Palestinians in Gaza desperate for bread as flour on the verge of running out: UN

The UN has released these images from Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip and Khan Younis in the southern part as severe food insecurity continues to spread across the enclave.

Some of the few bakeries that have remained operational with limited help coming from international organisations are also running out of flour within days, it said.

Israeli authorities continue to starve the 2.3 million people in Gaza as they kill dozens with ground and air attacks on a daily basis.

21 Nov 2024 - 21:10
 (21:10 GMT)

WATCH: What are the implications of ICC arrest warrants for Israel and Hamas?

Arrest warrants are issued by the International Criminal Court for Netanyahu and Gallant on charges of committing war crimes in Gaza.

Senior Hamas figure Mohammed Deif is also being sought.

Just a day earlier, the US vetoed a ceasefire resolution at the UN Security Council. What are the implications of these developments?

Find out on the latest Inside Story episode below:

21 Nov 2024 - 21:00
 (21:00 GMT)
Analysis

ICC arrest warrants ‘makes a difference to world opinion’

Michael Mansfield, an international human rights lawyer, says Israel is an “unjust state that has never respected the rule of law”.

Israel is trying to “deflect responsibility” and its objective has been to destroy Gaza and make it “uninhabitable”, Mansfield told Al Jazeera.

Netanyahu will not end the war in Gaza, he said, until this objective is met.

“If he ends the war, he is in trouble. He’s in trouble if he leaves the country … and if he stays in Israel … he’s awaiting prosecution there,” Mansfield said.

The issuing of the ICC warrants “makes a difference to world opinion, because I don’t think that the regime in Israel have recognised the extent in which they are being isolated – morally isolated”, he said.

21 Nov 2024 - 20:50
 (20:50 GMT)

Three children killed every week in the West Bank: UN

Israeli forces have, on average, killed three Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank every week since October 7, 2023, according to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The organisation said this marks a four-fold increase compared to the first nine months of 2023, during which 40 children were killed.

“Over 60 percent of these fatalities occurred in Jenin, Tulkarem, Tubas and Nablus governorates, areas that have witnessed intensified Israeli operations over the past year,” OCHA said.

“Among them, 35 children were killed in air strikes, during which Israeli forces employed lethal, war-like tactics, raising serious concerns about the excessive use of force. Additionally, 1,132 children have been injured, with nearly half [48 percent] sustaining injuries from live ammunition.”

The UN also noted multiple instances this month of Israeli forces killing or wounding Palestinians in the occupied territories, or supporting violent attacks by illegal settlers.

21 Nov 2024 - 20:40
 (20:40 GMT)

Demonstrations after British police arrest 10 pro-Palestinian activists

Police in the UK have arrested 10 people with the Palestine Action network of activists who protested against Israeli attacks.

The organisation released a video showing its members demonstrating in Manchester, over 48 hours after the activists were arrested under the Terrorism Act.

The CAGE International rights group said British police conducted “widespread raids” that led to the arrests, with those taken in including a 72-year-old and six Muslims.

21 Nov 2024 - 20:30
 (20:30 GMT)

German students protest agains Munich university’s ties with Israel

Students from the Technical University of Munich in Germany organised a protest against their university’s dealings with Israeli institutions and universities by throwing flyers from above the campus centre.

The video below, confirmed by Al Jazeera’s Sanad verification agency, shows a large number of flyers scattering and falling among the students in a protest move to express their rejection of what they described as “collusion” in violating international law by cooperating with the Israeli occupation.

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem says his group has reviewed the US-drafted ceasefire proposal to end fighting with Israel.

Published On 20 Nov 2024