Amsterdam ready to act upon ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu

The Netherlands is prepared to act upon the arrest warrant issued by the ICC against Netanyahu if needed, Dutch news agency ANP has reported, citing the country’s foreign minister Caspar Veldkamp.

If the Israeli leader comes to Dutch soil, he will be arrested, Veldkamp said in the House of Representatives, local outlet Nos reported. The Netherlands will also avoid “non-essential” contact with Netanyahu, Gallant and Deif, who were also issued arrest warrants by the ICC today.

“The Netherlands implements the Rome Statute 100 percent,” the foreign minister said. The signatories of the Rome Statute and members of the ICC are bound to arrest the three if they travel to their country.

World reacts to ICC warrants against Netanyahu, Gallant

Jordan’s foreign minister Ayman Safadi says the International Criminal Court’s decision must be respected and implemented, adding the Palestinians deserved justice after what he termed Israel’s “war crimes” in Gaza.

The French foreign ministry spokesman says that France’s reaction to the decision will be in line with the court’s statutes.

When asked during a news conference if France would arrest Netanyahu, Christophe Lemoine said it was a legally complicated question. “It’s a point that is legally complex so I’m not going to comment on it today,” he said.

The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said that the decision to issue these warrants was “not political”, and that the court’s decision should be “respected and implemented”.

US rejects ICC arrest warrants for Israeli officials: White House

The United States has rejected the decision by the ICC to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, a White House National Security Council spokesperson said.

“The United States fundamentally rejects the Court’s decision to issue arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials,” the spokesperson said. “We remain deeply concerned by the Prosecutor’s rush to seek arrest warrants and the troubling process errors that led to this decision.”

Rush???

Russia invaded Ukraine February 24 2022, ICC issued arrest warrant for Putin March 23 2023. 392 days later.
Israel started bombing Gaze Oct 7th 2023, full scale ground invasion on Oct 27th, today is November 21st 2024. 410 (390) days later.

Incoming top Trump aide warns ICC of ‘strong response’

Congressman Mike Waltz, who is set to serve as President-elect Donald Trump’s national security adviser, has slammed the court over the Netanyahu and Gallant arrest warrants.

“The ICC has no credibility and these allegations have been refuted by the US government,” Waltz wrote in a social media post. “Israel has lawfully defended its people & borders from genocidal terrorists. You can expect a strong response to the antisemitic bias of the ICC & UN come January.”

Trump will be inaugurated on January 20.

Numerous human rights organisations have documented horrific Israeli abuses in Gaza, including forced displacement, the targeting of civilians and the use of hunger as a weapon of war. UN experts have also accused Israel of carrying out a genocide against Palestinians.

Glad to see an arrest warrant for Netanyahu even if it won't amount to anything like Putin's arrest warrant. Now America will be even more aggressive towards the ICC, especially the Trump admin who are already threatening ICC and UN with consequences in January. Nice to see a few European countries supporting the arrest warrant decision.

It does feel like the next 4 years will establish a firm divide between America and Europe, firstly with America abandoning Ukraine and backstabbing Europe which will damage relations and now there's going to be another major sticking point between America and Europe in relation to Israel/Netanyahu's arrest warrant. I hope every European country commits to arresting Netanyahu.

Zero reason for any European country to kiss America's ass with the incoming Trump admin.

Netanyahu ‘now officially a wanted man’ after ICC warrant: Amnesty chief

Netanyahu is “now officially a wanted man” after the ICC’s decision to issue arrest warrants for the Israeli leader and his former defence minister, Amnesty International said.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu is now officially a wanted man,” said Amnesty Secretary General Agnes Callamard.

“ICC member states and the whole international community must stop at nothing until these individuals are brought to trial before the ICC’s independent and impartial judges.”

125 countries ‘obligated’ to abide by ICC arrest warrants

These arrest warrants will now be sent to all the member states of the ICC, 125 now with Ukraine, the latest member, and then all these countries have a legal obligation to arrest these people.

So in any country of these 125 member states, when they appear there, these countries, the authorities there have the obligation to detain them and hand them over to The Hague.

I have to say, this has happened not happened in all cases. We have the memory of when President Putin travelled to Mongolia recently. Mongolia also being a member state, they didn’t detain Putin and hand him over to the ICC. So it all depends on the countries. The Netherlands here, the host country of the ICC, has already said they will. But of course there is this very strict obligation and a lot of countries will obey.

According to the Rome statute of which the ICC is based, there is no precedent of a trial without any of the suspects present, so the ICC will do everything it can to obtain these arrests.

There are 15 people still at large who have been who have been sought by the ICC – some of them for more than a decade – but they haven’t appeared here at the court in The Hague for all this time. It’s very essential for the ICC to prosecute war criminals when they are actually present here.

Analysis: Israelis likely to rally around Netanyahu in wake of ICC arrest warrant

https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/21/middleeast/international-criminal-court-issues-arrest-warrant-for-israeli-prime-minister-intl/index.html

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-gaza-netanyahu-11-2024-intl/index.html

When the ICC first announced its request for an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu six months ago, most people in Israel didn’t think chief prosecutor Karim Khan would ever actually follow through.

The prosecutor’s allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity were widely derided by the Jewish state and only seemed to knit Israelis more tightly together - in the face of what many considered a biased opinion.

Since then, Netanyahu’s popularity in Israel has slowly grown from its dismal standing in the wake of Hamas’ brutal October 7 attack last year.

On the streets of Jerusalem, despite the most profound and perhaps consequential move against its political leaders, people were shrugging off allegations that the prime minister bears “criminal responsibility for war crimes” including “starvation as a method of war” and “crimes against humanity of murder, persecution and other inhumane acts.”

One woman told CNN she supports the prime minister against the “biased” accusations.

Part of the country readily believes the Prime Minister’s Office statement Thursday claiming the ICC has taken an “antisemitic” decision. They are likely to band behind Netanyahu, because the country as a whole will likely feel they’re under siege and misunderstood.

There will be very few people who will dare openly and loudly throw their support behind the ICC, whatever they think about Netanyahu, his deadly Gaza war tactics, or the eye popping Palestinian death toll. Above all, they see the ICC as another international institution that, like the UN, doesn’t understand them and what it takes to survive in this region.

For those outside Israel who believe Khan’s principled legal challenge is going to change the mood in the country, that shift will not bear out overnight, not in the near term - and possibly not for a generation.

Well it's important enough for CNN to start reporting on the conflict again, live page back open instead of no news for days.

Yeah Putin still roams free and as stated above, Mongolia didn't arrest Putin despite being part of the Rome Statute.

On October 24, 2024, the International Criminal Court (ICC) ruled that Mongolia violated the Rome Statute by failing to arrest and surrender Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to the country.

But it does put more pressure on other countries to stop being complicit in this genocide. And hopefully also some pressure on the US.

Yes, the next 4 years are going to be very rough and Europe needs to distance itself from the US. Europe also needs to stop fueling the genocide in Gaza. Hopefully Borrell can get some arms embargoes through now after the arrest warrants.



The US is scrambling already.

US State Department cancels daily briefing

A news conference with US spokesperson Matthew Miller – previously scheduled for 1:15pm Eastern Time (18:15 GMT) – has been scrapped without explanation. The State Department updated its daily schedule to say there is no briefing today. The unusual cancellation comes after the ICC issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant.

Israeli raid strikes Beirut’s southern suburbs

An Israeli air raid has just targeted the Haret Hreik area in the southern suburbs of Beirut, the Lebanese National News Agency reports.

The strike was the 12th raid on the area so far today, the NNA added.

At least 10 more people killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon’s Baalbek

An Israeli air strike on the town of Maqne in eastern Lebanon’s Baalbek district has killed six people, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health. The ministry also announced that an Israeli raid on the town of Flawiye, also in Baalbek, has killed four people and wounded three.

The Haret Hreik area in the southern suburbs of Beirut has been hit by at least 12 air strikes today, according to the National News Agency, which also reported Israeli jets broke the sound barrier in the Bekaa region in one of their latest incursions.

Lebanon death toll rises

At least 3,583 people have been killed and 15,244 wounded in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since the war on Gaza began, Lebanon’s Health Ministry says.

Dozens of people killed in Israeli strikes on eastern Lebanon’s Baalbek region

At least 47 people have been killed and 22 wounded in Israeli strikes on Lebanon’s Baalbek-Hermel governorate today, Governor Bachir Khodr said in a post on X, adding that rescue operations were still under way.

Earlier, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported Israeli jets broke the sound barrier in the eastern Bekaa region in one of their latest incursions.

Israeli forces have been pounding southern and eastern Lebanon as well as Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Hezbollah reports targeting of Israeli forces in Lebanon’s Khiam

Hezbollah says its operatives have launched multiple attacks against invading Israeli forces in Khiam, a town in southern Lebanon. The armed Lebanese group said it launched artillery and rocket attacks against Israeli troops and military vehicles seven times since this morning.

Hezbollah also said a group of Israeli soldiers was targeted in Wadi al-Asafir, located south of the town. The group reported launching rockets at the Israeli settlement of Yaron along the border as well and released multiple videos of operations in the past few days.

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.

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

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.

Children, women in Gaza poisoned by canned food left by Israeli forces: Civil Defence

The Palestinian Civil Defence in the Gaza Strip has released a video of 15 children and women that it says were hospitalised for poisoning after eating canned food left behind by Israeli forces.

Spokesman Mahmoud Basal wrote in his Telegram channel that the food was left behind in the Shujayea neighbourhood during a previous incursion into the area in the hunger-stricken north.

“We urge citizens to exercise caution when encountering such canned goods, especially dairy products. Refrain from consuming them, as the Israeli occupation forces intentionally leave these spoiled items to harm those who consume them.”

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.

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.

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.

Gallant says ICC warrant for his arrest ‘will be remembered forever’

The former defence minister says the warrant issued by the ICC for his arrest sets a “dangerous precedent”.

“The decision of the court in The Hague will be remembered forever – it places the State of Israel and the murderous leaders of Hamas in the same row and thus legitimises the murder of babies, the rape of women and the abduction of the elderly from their beds,” he wrote on X.

“The decision sets a dangerous precedent against the right to self-defence and ethical warfare and encourages murderous terrorism.”

You're the one responsible for "the murder of babies, the rape of women and the abduction of the elderly from their beds”. Over 700 infants killed in Gaza, women and men raped in your torture prisons, elderly 'abducted' from the West Bank and Gaza.

But I agree, the ICC should not place you on the same level as Hamas, you and Netanyahu are much worse than Hamas.


Israeli ambassadors to ‘act globally’ against countries honouring ICC warrants

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar says he has instructed Israeli ambassadors “to act against countries globally” who choose to honour what he brands a “scandalous decision” by the ICC to issue arrest warrants.

“Many significant voices are now being heard in the world against the injustice done to Israel,” he wrote on X. “This is part of Israel’s campaign for its right to defend itself and its citizens. And we will fight!”

Saar also reposted a statement by the Foreign Ministry of Paraguay that said the country “regretted” the ICC warrants because they violate Israel’s right to self-defence and amount to a “political exploitation of international law”.

Netanyahu the ‘ultimate victim’ in the eyes of many Israelis

Gideon Levy, a columnist with Israel’s Haaretz newspaper, says Netanyahu and Gallant are “clever enough” to understand that the ICC arrest warrants issued against them are “very serious”.

“I guess they are sweating now,” Levy told Al Jazeera. He said the warrants also have a “much broader meaning for Israel, the Israeli army, for individual soldiers and officers” because they can snowball to include more people.

However, Israel today is united in condemning the ICC “almost from wall to wall”, Levy said. “Very few in Israel are asking … how did we get to this point,” he said. “Many Israelis don’t see anything wrong with the behaviour of Israel in Gaza.”

Levy believes Netanyahu’s popularity in Israel may increase in the coming days because he is now the “ultimate victim”. “Now, it’s him against the whole world, and Israelis feel that he represents all of them.”

US believes that the ICC has ‘no jurisdiction’ after issuing arrest warrants

The administration of US President Joe Biden is rejecting the ICC decision to issue arrest warrants … saying it is deeply concerned. The US believes that the ICC has no jurisdiction – this is something that it said back in May as well. It is going to be coordinating with Israel as well as its international partners, it says, to discuss next steps.

Having said that, one of the top Republicans in the US Senate, Senator Lindsey Graham, who posted earlier that he was opposed to this decision, has since issued another post that is even stronger.

He goes on to say to President Biden as well as President-elect Donald Trump … those who do not act forcefully against the ICC in this outrageous decision are making a huge mistake and I fear that the United States is next.

It’s extremely serious [that the US is threatening sanctions]. It’s saying that it … doesn’t recognise the jurisdiction of the court, which we know, but that is and in itself hypocritical because it does recognise the jurisdiction when it comes to [Russian President] Vladimir Putin, which this administration has called a war criminal.

The other reason why this is serious is that any sort of US sanctions against the ICC prosecutor would mean that their property would be revoked if they have property here in the United States. They could be prevented from conducting any sort of transactions with regards to their property.

They could have their visas revoked and they could also be prevented from travelling to the US. The implications could have a ripple effect, and so it is extremely serious.