Main points on December 3rd
- Israeli forces have bombed north Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital for the fifth time in recent weeks, as well as besieged a school sheltering hundreds of displaced people in Beit Lahiya.
- Health Ministry officials in the Palestinian enclave have said that Israeli strikes have killed 36 people and wounded 96 more in the latest 24-hour reporting period.
- The US has urged Israel to investigate allegations its air strikes have killed aid workers in Gaza, a State Department spokesperson has said, expressing outrage over the recent killing of a Save the Children staffer.
- The UN says that “food availability is at an all-time low across” Gaza as Israel’s blockade of the territory continues, with some in the besieged north saying they are running out of all supplies.
- An Israeli air strike on a car near Syria’s capital, Damascus, has killed a senior Hezbollah figure responsible for liaising with the Syrian army.
- The UN peacekeeping force has said it is monitoring “violations” of a fragile US-brokered ceasefire in Lebanon after Israel carried out several deadly air strikes on the country’s south this week.
ICC seeks external probe into misconduct claims against chief prosecutor
The International Criminal Court’s (ICC’s) governing body has confirmed it is seeking an “external probe” into allegations of sexual misconduct by the court’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan.
“After having consulted the Bureau of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP), I am seeking on behalf of the ASP Presidency an external investigation into the matters related to alleged misconduct by the ICC Prosecutor,” Paivi Kaukoranta, president of the ASP, the body overseeing the court, said in a statement on Monday.
Calling upon all parties to cooperate fully, the statement said the external investigation was “being pursued in order to ensure a fully independent, impartial and fair process”.
Khan, who had previously denied the allegations, said on Monday he would press ahead with his duties while the investigation is ongoing. “I welcome the opportunity to engage in this process,” Khan, 54, said in a statement, adding that he “will be continuing all other functions as prosecutor”.
Kaukoranta had issued a statement last month confirming the ASP was looking into the allegations against Khan “on the basis of a third-party report”.
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