US sanctions international court judges over Netanyahu arrest warrant
France, whose President Emmanuel Macron had visited Washington two days earlier, expressed 'dismay' over the sanctions. A foreign ministry spokesman said the move was 'in contradiction to the principle of an independent judiciary.' The ICC called the sanctions a 'flagrant attack against the independence of an impartial judicial institution.'ICC ALLEGES NETANYAHU OF WAR CRIMES IN GAZAThe court has alleged that Netanyahu is responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Israel's offensive in Gaza, including by intentionally targeting civilians and using starvation as a method of war. Netanyahu thanked Rubio for his 'decisive act against a smear campaign of lies against the State of Israel' and the Israeli army.Israel launched its military campaign in response to a Hamas attack in which mostly civilians were killed. The ICC has also sought the arrest of former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas commander Mohammed Deif, who has since been confirmed killed by Israel.Judge Guillou has previously taken part in trials related to Kosovo and Lebanon. He also worked for several years in the United States assisting the Justice Department with judicial cooperation during the Obama administration. Under the US sanctions, Guillou will be barred from entering the United States and any assets he holds in the country will be blocked.LATEST SANCTIONS REFLECT BROADER OPPOSITION TO ICCThe Trump administration had also imposed sanctions on ICC officials and rejected the court's authority. Rubio had earlier imposed sanctions on four other ICC judges in June.The State Department said the two deputy prosecutors were sanctioned for supporting 'illegitimate ICC actions against Israel,' including supporting the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.Judge Prost, from Canada, was involved in a case that authorised an investigation into alleged crimes committed during the war in Afghanistan, including by US forces.The United States, Russia, and Israel are not parties to the ICC. Recently, Trump welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin to Alaska, despite an ICC arrest warrant against him over the invasion of Ukraine.Former President Joe Biden's administration had also opposed ICC action against Israel, lifted earlier sanctions, and allowed limited cooperation with the court, including in gathering evidence related to Ukraine.- EndsTune InMust Watch
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- New Indian Express
Netanyahu says he'll 'push ahead' with Gaza City takeover, end war on 'terms acceptable to Israel'
Gaza City operation could begin in days During a visit to the military's Gaza command in southern Israel, Netanyahu said he would approve the army's plans to retake Gaza City, and had instructed officials "to begin immediate negotiations on the release of all our hostages and an end to the war on terms acceptable to Israel.' "These two things — defeating Hamas and releasing all our hostages — go hand in hand," he said. It appeared to mark Israel's first public response to the latest ceasefire proposal drawn up by Egypt and Qatar, which Egyptian and Hamas officials say is almost identical to an earlier one that Israel accepted before the talks stalled last month. The proposal would include the release of some of the hostages in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, a pullback of Israeli forces and negotiations over a more lasting ceasefire. Israeli troops have meanwhile already begun more limited operations in Gaza City's Zeitoun neighborhood and the built-up Jabaliya refugee camp, areas where they have carried out several previous large-scale raids over the course of the war, only to see militants later regroup. The military says it plans to operate in areas where ground troops have not yet entered and where it says Hamas still has military and governing capabilities. So far, there has been little sign of Palestinians fleeing en masse, as they did when Israel carried out an earlier offensive in Gaza City in the opening weeks of the war. The military says it controls around 75% of Gaza and residents say nowhere in the territory feels safe. Protests in Israel and Gaza Hundreds gathered for a rare protest in Gaza City on Thursday against the war and Israel's plans to support the mass relocation of Palestinians to other countries. Women and children held placards reading 'Save Gaza' and 'Stop the war, stop the savage attack, save us,' against a backdrop of destroyed buildings as Palestinian music played. Unlike in previous protests, there were no expressions of opposition to Hamas. 'We want the war on Gaza to stop. We don't want to migrate. Twenty-two months … it's enough. Enough death. Enough destruction,' said Bisan Ghazal, a woman displaced from Gaza City. In Israel, protesters marched Thursday night in Tel Aviv holding banners that read 'The people will bring back the hostages' and 'How much blood will be spilled?' Among the demonstrators was Dudu Dotan, who said Netanyahu is endangering the remaining hostages by moving forward with the planned Gaza City offensive. Of the 50 still being held in Gaza, Israel believes about 20 hostages are still alive. 'This way will not bring the hostages back,' Dotan said. "Every hostage he brought back, he brought back through deals. And every time he tried to bring them back with military force, he caused the hostages to be killed.' Plans for widening the offensive have also sparked international outrage, with many of Israel's closest Western allies — but not the United States — calling on it to end the war. 'I must reiterate that it is vital to reach immediately a ceasefire in Gaza, and the unconditional release of all hostages to avoid the massive death and destruction that a military operation against Gaza City would inevitably cause,' UN chief António Guterres said at a conference in Japan.
NDTV
3 minutes ago
- NDTV
Israel Approves Extended Offensive, Hammers Gaza City Overnight
Israel hammered Gaza City and its outskirts overnight, residents said Thursday, after the defence ministry approved an expanded offensive to target the remaining Hamas strongholds in the strip. The newly approved plan authorises the call-up of roughly 60,000 reservists, deepening fears that the campaign will worsen the already catastrophic humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territory. "We are not waiting. We have begun the preliminary actions, and already now, IDF (army) troops are holding the outskirts of Gaza City," the Israeli military said in a statement. Israel's plans to expand the fighting and take control of Gaza City have sparked international outcry as well as domestic opposition. Ahead of the offensive, the Israeli military said the call-up of the reservists would begin in early September. Gaza City residents described relentless bombardments overnight. "The house shakes with us all night long -- the sound of explosions, artillery, warplanes, ambulances, and cries for help is killing us," one of them, Ahmad al-Shanti, told AFP. "The sound is getting closer, but where would we go?". Another resident, Amal Abdel-Aal, said she watched the heavy strikes on the area, a week after being displaced from her home in Gaza City's Al-Sabra neighbourhood. "No one in Gaza has slept -- not last night, not for a week. The artillery and air strikes in the east never stop. The sky flashes all night long," she added. Gaza civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said air strikes and artillery fire overnight targeted areas to the northwest and southeast of Gaza City. Late Thursday, the Israeli military detailed a range of operations across the Gaza Strip in recent weeks. It said the manoeuvres and strikes "created the conditions" for the military to intensify pressure on Hamas and lay the groundwork for the next stages of the campaign. As Israel tightened its grip on the outskirts of Gaza City, meditators continued to wait for an official Israeli reaction to their latest ceasefire proposal that Hamas accepted earlier this week. 'Ball' in Israel's court Israel and Hamas have held a string of indirect negotiations throughout the nearly two-year conflict, paving the way for a pair of short ceasefires during which Israeli hostages were freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Of the 251 captives kidnapped during Hamas's October 2023 onslaught on southern Israel that triggered the war, 49 are still in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. Sources from Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad told AFP this week that the latest ceasefire proposal calls for the release of 10 hostages and 18 bodies from Gaza. The remaining hostages would be released in a second phase alongside talks for a wider settlement. Qatar and Egypt, backed by the United States, have overseen several rounds of shuttle diplomacy. Qatar said the latest proposal was "almost identical" to an earlier version approved by Israel, while Cairo said Monday that "the ball is now in its (Israel's) court". Late Wednesday, Hamas lambasted the Israeli defence ministry's approval of plans to take control of Gaza City, saying it showed its "blatant disregard" for efforts to broker a ceasefire and hostage release deal. "Today's announcement by the terrorist occupation army of the start of an operation against Gaza City and its nearly one million residents and displaced persons... demonstrates... a blatant disregard for the efforts made by the mediators," it said in a statement. Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel's offensive has killed at least 62,122 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, which the United Nations considers reliable. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.
NDTV
3 minutes ago
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Russia's Overnight Aerial Strike On Western Ukraine Kills 1, Injures 18
Kyiv: Russian overnight attack killed one person, injured at least 18, and struck a US electronics manufacturer in western Ukraine, Ukrainian officials said on Thursday. A missile attack injured 15 people and destroyed storage facilities at the manufacturer in the town of Mukachevo, emergency services and local authorities in the western Zakarpattia region said. National television showed the region's governor, Myroslav Biletskyi, standing near the building engulfed in smoke, who said the plant was producing consumer electronics, while Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha condemned the strike in a post on X. "A fully civilian facility that has nothing to do with defence or the military," he said. Contrary to all efforts to end the war, Russia undertook a massive combined air strike on Ukraine overnight. Hundreds of drones, hypersonic, ballistic, and cruise missiles on civilian and energy infrastructure. One of the missiles struck a major American electronics… — Andrii Sybiha 🇺🇦 (@andrii_sybiha) August 21, 2025 "This is not the first Russian attack on American businesses in Ukraine, after strikes on Boeing offices in Kyiv earlier this year and other attacks." In the western city of Lviv, the attack killed one person, injured three more, and damaged 26 homes, according to Governor Maksym Kozytskyi. Ukrainian Air Force said that Russia used 574 drones and 40 missiles in the overnight attack on the country, which was the biggest one so far in August. "This is why efforts to force Russia to end the war are so critical," Sybiha said. The strike took place at a time of intense efforts by US President Donald Trump to bring an end to the Russian war in Ukraine. Russia, which denies targeting civilians, has used missiles and drones to strike Ukrainian towns and cities far from the front lines of the war. Thousands of civilians, the vast majority of them Ukrainian, have been killed since Moscow invaded in 2022.
