Hamas’s armed wing spokesman says an Israeli woman held captive has been killed in northern Gaza.
Abu Obeida said she was killed in an area attacked by Israeli forces.
- “After re-establishing contact weeks later with those assigned to protect the captives, it emerged a woman was killed in an area under Israeli fire in the northern Gaza Strip,” he said.
Another woman – also an Israeli captive – was critically wounded and her life is in danger, said Abu Obeida, adding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government are responsible for the lives of the abductees.
- There was no immediate comment from Israel’s government.
Source: Al Jazeera
UK indicates it could arrest Netanyahu on ICC warrant, as Hungary invites him to visit
Britain on Friday indicated that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could be arrested on an International Criminal Court warrant if he visits, and Ireland said it would definitely arrest him if he did, while Hungary rejected the ICC decision to seek Netanyahu’s arrest for alleged war crimes in Gaza and invited him to make an official visit.
- Israel and the United States on Thursday rejected the top court’s decision to issue warrants for the premier and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant, with President Joe Biden denouncing it as “outrageous.”
- “The UK will always comply with its legal obligations as set out by domestic law and indeed international law,” UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesman said on Friday.
Asked directly whether Netanyahu would be arrested, the spokesman said he would not “talk about specific cases.”
Earlier on Friday, Ireland’s Prime Minister Simon Harris said Netanyahu would be detained if he arrived there.
- Asked by state broadcaster RTE if Ireland would arrest the Israeli prime minister if he came to Ireland, Harris said: “Yes, absolutely.”
- “We support international courts and we apply their warrants,” he added.
Relations between Ireland and Israel have deteriorated since Dublin recognized a Palestinian state last May, a move that prompted Israel to recall its ambassador.
Ireland’s foreign minister Micheal Martin said Friday he disagreed with US President Joe Biden’s depiction of the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant as “outrageous,” asserting that war crimes have been committed in Gaza.
- “It’s a collective punishment of the people… it’s genocidal,” he said.
Canada, Belgium, Spain, Austria, Finland, Portugal, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Switzerland are among others of the 124 ICC member-countries that have said they will comply with the arrest warrants.
Others, including Hungary, Czechia and Argentina, have said they will ignore them.
- Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban joined the US in voicing support for Israel, inviting Netanyahu to Budapest for an official visit in a letter that vowed he would ensure the premier’s “safety and freedom.”
Source: Al Jazeera, TOI and EURONEWS