World

7 Palestinians Killed As Israel Raids West Bank, War Crimes Court Seeks Netanyahu’s Arrest

News On Time Desk 22 May 2024

Israel: At least seven Palestinians were killed as Israel raided Jenin in the West Bank on Tuesday. The Israeli military said the operation targeted armed militants in the city. As the war rages on, Israeli forces also widened their Gaza offensive, striking a hospital and destroying residential areas with tank and air bombardments. Meanwhile, the chief prosecutor of the world’s top war crimes court sought arrest warrants for leaders of Israel and Hamas, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, over actions taken during their seven-month war.

The war has triggered a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, displacing roughly 80 per cent of the population and leaving hundreds of thousands of people on the brink of starvation, according to UN officials.

The chief prosecutor of the world’s top war crimes court has sought arrest warrants for leaders of Israel and Hamas, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, over actions taken during their seven-month war. While Netanyahu and his Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, do not face imminent arrest, the court’s prosecutor, Karim Khan, accused Netanyahu, Gallant, and three Hamas leaders — Yehya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh — of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip and Israel.

The Biden administration is willing to work with Congress to potentially impose sanctions against International Criminal Court officials over the prosecutor’s request for arrest warrants for Israeli leaders over the Gaza war, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday. At a Senate appropriations subcommittee hearing, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told Blinken he wanted to see renewed US sanctions on the court in response to the move announced by ICC prosecutor Karim Khan on Monday.