Latest news with #InternationalCriminalCourt
MTV Lebanon
12 hours ago
- Politics
- MTV Lebanon
UNRWA urges immediate access to Gaza as aid supplies sit idle in Jordan
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) sounded the alarm on Friday over the continued obstruction of humanitarian aid to Gaza as essential supplies remain stockpiled in nearby Jordan. 'In the UNRWA warehouse in (Jordanian capital) Amman, just a three-hour drive from Gaza, we have enough supplies to sustain over 200,000 people for an entire month,' the agency said. 'Flour, food parcels, hygiene kits, blankets, and medical supplies are ready to be delivered. Gaza needs aid at scale,' said UNRWA, stressing that 'an unhindered, uninterrupted flow of supplies must be allowed in.' Since March 2, Israel has kept all border crossings shut, cutting off the entry of food, medicine, fuel, and other essential supplies for Gaza's 2.4 million residents. Israel has pursued a devastating offensive in Gaza since October 2023, killing over 54,200 Palestinians, most of them women and children. Aid agencies have warned about the risk of famine among the enclave's more than 2 million population. Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war crimes against civilians in the enclave.
GMA Network
19 hours ago
- Politics
- GMA Network
ICC judges seek dismissal of Duterte's disqualification bid
Two judges handling the crimes against humanity case of former President Rodrigo Duterte in the International Criminal Court (ICC) have asked the tribunal to dismiss the disqualification bid against them, calling it groundless. In a 3-page document dated May 22, Judge Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou and Judge María del Socorro Flores Liera stressed that they abide by their undertaking to exercise their judicial functions impartially. '[T]here are no grounds to doubt our impartiality in the current case and none of the criteria established under article 41(2) of the Rome Statute are met,' it read. 'We, as judges, act at all times in accordance with our judicial duties under the Rome Statute and kindly request the Plenary of Judges to reject the Disqualification Request,' it added. Duterte's camp previously requested the Presidency to disqualify Alpini-Gansou and Flores Liera from adjudicating on the issue of jurisdiction. The judges, however, said that when the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber 1 addressed the issue of jurisdiction in the Philippines' case, it did so in accordance with its duties, within the limits of the proceeding, and without prejudice to the future determinations of the same issue. It said that the chamber only previously considered the matter of jurisdiction in relation to the question whether there is a basis for the ICC Prosecutor to proceed with its investigation in the country. The judges said that the arguments raised by the Duterte camp were not considered by the Chamber at that time. 'Thus, it is untenable to suggest that judges cannot adjudicate a matter which is legally within their competence just because they previously issued judicial decisions at different stages of the proceedings in the same Situation on the basis of different arguments,' it read. 'As mentioned earlier, judges are professionals capable of deciding on issues before them relying solely and exclusively on the evidence and submissions adduced in the particular case,' it added. Duterte is currently under the custody of the ICC in The Hague, Netherlands. The confirmation of charges will take place on September 23, 2025.—LDF, GMA Integrated News
Budapest Times
21 hours ago
- Politics
- Budapest Times
Szijjártó: Hungary is one of the safest places in Europe today
Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said Hungary is one of the safest places in Europe today, thanks to the Hungarian government's determined defense against illegal migration, 'even if it has to pay a one million euro daily fine to Brussels for it.' Speaking at a ministerial-level panel discussion at the International Conference on Combatting Antisemitism in Jerusalem, Minister Szijjártó said modern-day anti-Semitism was especially prevalent in Western Europe, mainly due to mass illegal migration. 'We in Hungary have a zero-tolerance policy against anti-Semitism. Hungary is one of the safest places in Europe today, in general as well as specifically for Jewish communities,' he said. Hungary also has the largest Jewish community in Central Europe, he added. 'Hungary has no migrants, we don't allow illegal migrants into the country… No matter the pressure from Brussels, we will keep Hungary one of the safest countries in Europe,' he added. 'Demonstrations glorifying terrorist organisations are unimaginable and prohibited in Hungary. There is no need for armed security guards at Jewish events in Hungary…' Minister Szijjártó said. Minister Szijjártó said the world was facing 'enormous security challenges, one of them being constantly growing terrorism.' It is a duty of the international community to ensure that 'horrible things like those that took place in Israel on October 7, 2023, will never happen again.' He condemned 'certain [players] in international politics fundamentally questioning Israel's right to self-defense, trying to relativise the most horrific terror attack in world history.' World politics was plagued by an anti-Israel stance, and 'unbalanced, biased statements against the Jewish state' were regularly voiced in international organizations, he said. Minister Szijjártó pointed to the International Criminal Court as an example, which he said had made 'a clearly politically motivated decision' when it issued an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The ICC 'has become a political organisation and has lost all seriousness,' so Hungary decided to withdraw from it, Minister Szijjártó said. 'We are proud to be a strategic ally and friend of Israel. Israel can always count on Hungary when it comes to combating anti-Semitism, or anti-Israel sentiments in international politics,' Minister Szijjártó said.
The Guardian
a day ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Europe will never agree on Israel – but here's a way it can act to help Gaza
European consciences have started waking up to the Israeli government's crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories – and it is about time. What has caused this long and slow awakening? Is it Israel's killing of more than 54,000 Palestinians since Hamas's horrific attack on 7 October 2023? Thousands of babies at risk of dying from starvation and malnutrition? Civilians burning alive? Israeli ministers' plans to reoccupy and recolonise the Gaza Strip, expelling Palestinians? Or perhaps it's the Israeli army firing shots at diplomats, including Europeans, in the West Bank – or the racist chanting, during a state-funded march in Jerusalem, of 'death to the Arabs' and 'may their villages burn'? It's probably a combination of all the above, as well as the recognition that principled pressure on Israel will certainly not come from Washington. Whatever the triggers for it, Europe may be nearing an inflection point on the graph, turning the dark page of its complicity with Israel's nearly 20-month war in Gaza. A minority of European countries has made a principled stand over the war. EU members Spain, Ireland and Slovenia, as well as Norway outside the bloc, recognised Palestine as a sovereign state last year, fully supported the proceedings and decisions of the international court of justice and the international criminal court, continued funding Unrwa, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, and voted in favour of all UN general assembly resolutions on Gaza. However, there is also a minority of countries that has continued to offer unabashed support for the Netanyahu government. The most unrepentant are the Czech Republic and Hungary, with Germany and Italy next in line. Hungary's prime minister, Viktor Orbán, went as far as inviting Netanyahu, to Budapest, despite the international criminal court's arrest warrant. Hungary then left the ICC altogether. Most other European countries have sat silently in the middle. For the first six months of the war, this meant refusing to call for a ceasefire. Only in the spring of 2024, when even Joe Biden's rabidly pro-Israel administration changed tack, did the EU join the chorus in favour of a truce. European governments and EU institutions have mildly pushed back against Donald Trump's monstrous Gaza 'riviera' proposal and embraced the Arab recovery and reconstruction plan. But they have continued to cooperate with Israel, going as far as holding an EU-Israel Association Council meeting in February that was chaired by the EU high representative, Kaja Kallas, and the Israeli foreign minister, Gideon Sa'ar. At most, they have lightly slapped Israel on the wrist for its disproportionate and indiscriminate violence in the strip. Now, though, the silent majority is shifting. The UK has suspended negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement with Israel. Pausing that negotiation inflicts no cost on Israel, since no agreement yet exists. But it's symbolically important. France is louder and more active, not simply in its diplomatic pursuit of a two-state solution, but also in hinting at the possibility of targeted sanctions on Israel. So far, these are baby steps, mostly abstract and/or tentative. But they indicate a change of pace and heart. Potentially most meaningful is the move within the EU to suspend its preferential trade arrangements with Israel under the EU-Israel association agreement. To be clear, suspending preferential trade would not constitute a sanction. Sanctions, implying import bans or restrictions, require unanimous agreement in the EU, and it's hard to imagine all 27 EU governments ever agreeing to that. Suspension of the entire EU-Israel association agreement is also hard to imagine, since this would also require unanimity. But suspending preferential trade means withholding a benefit of the association agreement and this falls within the remit of EU trade policy, which only requires a qualified majority of EU states voting in favour. Trade between the EU and Israel would continue, just not on preferential terms as has been the case since the association agreement came into force in 2000. While considered unthinkable in the past, there is now a real possibility that this process could move forward. For the time being, Kallas has mandated a review of Israel's compliance with its obligations under the association agreement. Interestingly, the review was formally requested not by a pro-Palestinian member state such as Spain or Ireland, or even by France, but by a traditionally pro-Israel one, the Netherlands, led by a rightwing government. Considering that human rights and respect for international law are legally 'essential elements' of the EU-Israel agreement (article 2), it would be egregious if the review, which will report on Israel's documented war crimes, were ignored and did not trigger a proposal by the European Commission for a suspension. The qualified majority necessary to suspend the trade section of the agreement would require 15 out of 27 states to support the move. Seventeen countries backed the review. But a qualified majority also requires the agreement of member states representing 65% of the EU population. If Germany and Italy opposed the move, that population threshold is not met yet. Either one or the other would need to budge. At the moment, Italy's far-right government, led by Giorgia Meloni, has given no indication of a change of policy. Criticism of Israel is growing, but not to the point of triggering a policy shift. German governments have long regarded Israel's security as a Staatsräson for Germany given its history. – This means it is near impossible to criticise Israel's war in Gaza. But opinions about that may finally be shifting. The chancellor, Friedrich Merz, declared this week that Israel's actions in Gaza could no longer be justified – and that he could no longer understand Israel's goals in the strip. Actually, Israel's goals have been made abundantly clear, by the words of the Israeli government and, even more so, by its deeds. This is a war that has much to do with reoccupation, recolonisation and mass expulsion, and very little to do with Israeli security and the release of hostages. Even the staunchest of Israel's supporters, such as Merz, are becoming hard-pressed to deny this, and therefore less able to condone and support it. The suspension of the EU-Israel association agreement's preferential trade provisions may not stop the war in Gaza overnight. But it would be the first concrete step by the international community to exact a price on Israel for its crimes. Ultimately, imposing such costs is the only way to bring about change. The EU is Israel's biggest trading partner, so the cost in question is not insignificant. Acting now will not bring back tens of thousands of lives in the Gaza Strip. These will remain for ever a stain on our collective conscience. But it would reduce the bleak prospect of a future with only more death and destruction in store. Nathalie Tocci is a Guardian Europe columnist
2 days ago
- Politics
Philippine president's Cabinet revamp retains defense chief, a vocal critic of China's aggression
MANILA, Philippines -- Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will retain Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., who is among the most vocal critics of China in Asia, as Marcos presses on with a midterm overhaul of his Cabinet, a senior official said Thursday. Teodoro, who has strongly echoed Marcos' criticisms of China's increasingly assertive actions in the South China Sea, will remain in his post, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin told a news conference. Maj. Gen. Nicolas Torre III will be the next chief of the 232,000-member national police. Torre led the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte in March and his turnover to International Criminal Court detention in The Netherlands for his deadly anti-drug crackdowns, Bersamin said. Last year, Torre oversaw the arrest of Philippine religious leader Apollo Quiboloy, a key Duterte supporter who was placed on the FBI's most-wanted list after being indicted for sexual abuses and trafficking in the U.S. Torre would take over his retiring predecessor, Gen. Rommel Marbil. Marcos asked all of his Cabinet secretaries last week to submit resignations in what the government said was a 'bold reset' of his administration following the May 12 midterm elections, which saw more opposition candidates win crucial Senate seats. Marcos, the 67-year-old son of a late Philippine dictator overthrown in 1986, won the presidency in the deeply divided Southeast Asian country by a landslide in 2022 in a stunning political comeback as he made a steadfast call for national unity. But his equally popular vice-presidential running mate, Sara Duterte, later had a falling out with him that has sparked intense political discord. With support from friendly countries including the U.S., a treaty ally, Marcos emerged as the most vocal critic of China's actions in the disputed South China Sea while contending with an array of longstanding domestic issues including inflation, delayed fulfillment of a campaign promise to bring down the price of rice and many reports of kidnappings and other crimes. Teodoro told The Associated Press in March that China's aggressive policies in the disputed waters were now considered the greatest threat to the Philippines' national security and should also be regarded as a global threat because it could choke a trade route that is crucial for global supply chains. "The greatest external threat actually is Chinese aggression, Chinese expansionism and the attempt by China to change the international law through the use of force or acquiescence … or its attempt to reshape the world order to one that it controls,' Teodoro told the AP. Bersamin, who serves as executive secretary to Marcos and the Cabinet, has not specified the reasons for each Cabinet change but said 'the president has no patience for under performance." Bersamin said last week that Marcos decided to replace Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo with Foreign Undersecretary Theresa Lazaro, who has relayed Philippine protests and led talks with Chinese officials concerning an alarming spike of confrontations between Chinese and Philippine coast guard and naval forces in recent years. China claims virtually the entire South China Sea, a key global trade and security route despite a 2016 international arbitration ruling initiated by the Philippines that invalidated those expansive claims based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also are involved in the long-seething territorial standoffs regarded as a flashpoint in Asia.
