Netanyahu, Hamas Leaders: France, Belgium back ICC bid for arrest warrants

France, Belgium and Slovenia released statements supporting the world’s top war crimes court and its chief prosecutor’s request for arrest warrants for leaders of Israel and Hamas, after Israel and the United States both harshly condemned the effort.

The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders — Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh — of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip and Israel.

While Netanyahu and Gallant do not face imminent arrest, the announcement Monday was a symbolic blow that deepened Israel’s isolation over the offensive in Gaza, reports AP.

“France supports the International Criminal Court, its independence and the fight against impunity in all situations”, the foreign ministry said in a statement late on Monday.

The Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib welcomed the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor’s request for arrest warrants against Israeli and Hamas leaders as an “important step”.

“Crimes committed in Gaza must be prosecuted at the highest level, regardless of the perpetrators. The fight against impunity wherever crimes occur is a priority for Belgium,” Lahbib said in a statement.

Israeli forces thrust deeper into the Jabalia camp in northern Gaza yesterday, laying waste to residential districts with tank and air bombardments, residents said, while Israeli air strikes killed at least five people in the southern city of Rafah.

Simultaneous Israeli assaults on the northern and southern edges of the Gaza Strip this month have caused a new exodus of hundreds of thousands of people fleeing their homes, and sharply restricted the flow of aid, raising the risk of famine.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said yesterday that food distribution in Rafah were currently suspended due to lack of supplies and insecurity.

At least 35,647 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive in Gaza, according to the enclave’s health ministry yesterday. The toll includes 85 deaths over the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said. At least 10,000 others are missing and believed to be trapped under destroyed buildings, it said.

In Jabalia, a sprawling refugee camp built for displaced civilians 75 years ago, the Israeli army used bulldozers to clear shops and property near the local market, residents said, in a military operation that began almost two weeks ago.

Residents and medical officials said Israeli tanks were besieging the Al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia for the third day, and opened fire against Kamal Adwan hospital in nearby Beit Lahiya town.

An airstrike on a house in Jabalia killed at least three people overnight. In the south, airstrikes killed three children in a house in Khan Younis and at least five people including three children in a home in Rafah, reports Reuters.

Israeli forces also raided the West Bank city of Jenin yesterday, killing seven Palestinians, including a doctor, during a major operation that involved dozens of vehicles, witnesses and Palestinian health authorities said.

• Food distribution in Rafah suspended due to insecurity
• Israel troops kill seven Palestinians in West Bank raid
• Death toll in Gaza rises to 35,647