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SvennoJ 18 hours ago
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Polish president asks government not to arrest Netanyahu at Auschwitz ceremony

Poland’s President Andrzej Duda has urged the government not to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should he attend the Auschwitz liberation anniversary event later this month, according to his office.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in November over the Gaza war, prompting outrage from Israel and its allies.

Poland, as a party to the ICC, would be required to arrest Netanyahu if he attended the ceremony marking 80 years since the Red Army liberated the Nazi German death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Duda said “every person from Israel, every official from that country, should be able to take part in this unique event,” his aide Malgorzata Paprocka said on X.

Duda had sent a letter to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk “to ensure that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is able to participate in the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, should he express such a wish”.

Tusk has not yet commented on the president’s position.



‘No other agency’ can match UNRWA: WHO chief

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization, says no other aid agency can “match” the level of support the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, provides to people in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

“With about 1,000 health workers, UNRWA handles over 16,000 medical consultations per day, including for childhood vaccinations, maternal health services, malnutrition screening and mental health support. No other agency can match this scale,” Ghebreyesus wrote on X.

“Banning UNRWA will only deepen the suffering of the people in need of lifesaving care,” he added.

At the end of January, Israel’s ban on UNRWA is expected to come into effect and stop the organisation from operating in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.