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At least 18 Palestinians are said to have died in an Israeli attack in the West Bank – as airstrikes in Lebanon continued with large blasts seen near Beirut airport.

The Hamas-run health ministry said Thursday’s deaths occurred in the Tulkarm refugee camp.

In a post on X, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa called it a “massacre” and said Israel was “ignoring global calls for justice”.

Israel-Iran latest: Powerful explosions near Beirut airport

Israel’s military confirmed the airstrike and said it had killed the main Hamas figure in Tulkarm.

It said Zahi Yaser Abd al-Razeq Oufi supplied weapons to terrorists in the West Bank and was planning a terror attack in the “immediate” future.

Israel Defence Forces added “multiple other significant terrorists” were eliminated.

More on Hezbollah

In Lebanon, health authorities said 27 people were killed and 151 wounded in Israeli attacks on Thursday.

At least 1,276 have reportedly died since mid-September.

Israel said it hit 200 targets and told people in another 20 or so Lebanese towns to evacuate, as it continues targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters.

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Beirut rescue workers feel ‘targeted’ by strikes

It says its aim is to allow its citizens displaced by rocket fire to return to their homes near the border. Those Hezbollah attacks began a year ago in response to the Israel-Hamas war.

Most of Israel’s strikes so far in Lebanon have been in the south and officials there say 1.2 million have been forced to flee.

Attacks continued on Thursday night with more blasts in Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahieh.

Reuters news agency said witnesses reported some hit close to the city’s international airport, which borders the area.

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahieh, Beirut.
Pic: AP
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Smoke rises from an airstrike in Dahieh, Beirut, on 3 October. Pic: AP

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History of Israel and Lebanon explained

Hezbollah also said it launched rockets at two bases for military industry in Haifa Bay in northern Israel on Thursday.

Israel’s military said they were either intercepted or allowed to fall on open ground, and that about 230 projectiles had been fired from Lebanon in total.

Hezbollah, designated a terror entity by countries including the US and UK, said it killed 17 Israeli personnel in combat yesterday.

Israel did not comment on the claim, but did confirm the death of one soldier.

That followed the announcement of eight deaths on Wednesday as it conducts what it says is a limited ground invasion.

Sky News Special Programme

Read more:
Doctors in Lebanon fear for their lives as bombs rain down
Netanyahu – Israel’s longest-serving leader

The crisis in the region escalated rapidly and dramatically after booby-trapped pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah personnel exploded two weeks ago – an attack widely blamed on Israel.

Its warplanes then began striking targets in Lebanon and a number of Hezbollah’s top commanders have been killed, including Hassan Nasrallah, its leader.

The situation took another grave turn on Tuesday when Iran responded by launching around 200 missiles at Israel – a move Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu labelled a “major mistake”.

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President Joe Biden has said America is now “discussing” whether it will support an Israeli retaliation on Iran’s oil industry – a comment that has caused the oil price to spike.

But in comments to reporters, he added: “I don’t believe there is going to be an all-out war. I think we can avoid it.”

On Wednesday, Mr Biden said the US would not support any attack on Iran’s nuclear sites.

An American official told Reuters yesterday that Washington did not believe Israel had yet decided how to respond.

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Arrest warrants issued for Israeli PM Netanyahu and former defence secretary Gallant and senior Hamas commander over alleged war crimes

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Arrest warrants issued for Israeli PM Netanyahu and former defence secretary Gallant and senior Hamas commander over alleged war crimes

Arrest warrants have been issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former defence secretary Yoav Gallant and a senior Hamas commander by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The warrants against the senior Israeli figures are for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the war in Gaza that Israel launched following the 7 October attacks by Hamas.

The prime minister’s office said the warrants against him and Gallant were “anti-semitic” and said Israel “rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions”.

Another warrant was issued for the arrest of Hamas leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al Masri for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Al Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif, was the mastermind behind the 7 October attacks. It is unclear if he is still alive, following an airstrike that Israel claimed killed him earlier this year.

Neither Israel nor the US are members of the ICC. Israel has rejected the court’s jurisdiction and denies committing war crimes in Gaza.

US President Joe Biden described the warrants against Israeli leaders as “outrageous”, adding “whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas”.

Former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett said the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant were a “mark of shame” for the ICC.

The court originally said it was seeking arrest warrants for the three men in May for the alleged crimes and today announced that it had rejected challenges by Israel and issued warrants of arrest.

The new UK Labour government said in the summer it would not oppose the ICC’s right to issue the warrants.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the UN general assembly. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the UN general assembly. Pic: Reuters

Warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant

In its update, the ICC said it found “reasonable grounds to believe” that Netanyahu and Gallant “bear criminal responsibility” for alleged crimes.

These, the court said, include “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”.

Netanyahu previously spoke of his “disgust” at the suggestion the ICC would seek an arrest warrant for him.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews said the ICC’s decision sent a “terrible message”.

“The court has minimised how Hamas fights – deliberately from within civilian infrastructure and cruelly using Palestinian civilians as human shields, tragically leading to many casualties,” the board said.

“Democratic governments, and people around the world, should consider how they would have responded to an October 7th perpetrated against their country, involving mass murder, rape, and hostage-taking.

“We should all be focused on defeating the Hamas terrorists, liberating the hostages, ensuring that civilians in Gaza receive all necessary aid and working towards a sustainable peace for Israelis and Palestinians to prevent these horrible conflicts in the future.

“The decision of the ICC is counter-productive in all these respects.”

Read more:
Hamas ready to secure ceasefire ‘immediately’
Netanyahu and Trump ‘see eye to eye’ on Iran

This will never leave Netanyahu

Three arrest warrants have been issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) but the two most significant are those against Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant.

The court in their statement said that they have reasonable grounds to believe that those two men, have been carrying out the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution and other inhumane acts.

Ever since the arrest warrants were first sought there have been a lot of legal challenges. But the court has rejected all that and has now issued these arrest warrants.

So what does it mean? Well, practically, it would mean that Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant couldn’t travel to any state that is a signatory of the ICC – about 120 countries around the world, including the UK and many European countries.

Were Netanyahu to travel to any of those countries, he should be arrested by the police forces of those countries. And it’ll be very interesting to see what Sir Keir Starmer’s reaction is to this.

But the US, Israel’s closest ally, is not a signatory of the ICC. I think Netanyahu will have support on the other side of the Atlantic.

Also, these ICC arrest warrants don’t always get carried out. We saw President Vladimir Putin, who had an arrest warrant issued for him after the invasion of Ukraine, travel to Mongolia a couple of months ago and nothing was done about that.

But in terms of the reputations of Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, in terms of that legacy, they are now wanted suspects, wanted to be put on trial for war crimes. And it is a label that will never leave them.

File image made by video and released by the militant group Hamas on Aug. 26, 2005,  shows a man, identified as fugitive bombmaker Mohammed Deif. Pic: AP
Image:
A video released by Hamas in 2005 shows a man identified as Mohammed Deif. Pic: AP

Warrant for Hamas leader

The ICC also said it has issued an arrest warrant for Hamas leader Al Masri, saying it has “reasonable grounds to believe” that he is responsible for crimes against humanity including murder, extermination, torture, rape, as well as war crimes including taking hostages.

Discussing the 7 October attacks, the court said: “In light of the coordinated killings of members of civilians at several separate locations, the Chamber also found that the conduct took place as part of a mass killing of members of the civilian population, and it therefore concluded that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the crime against humanity of extermination was committed.”

In its statement, the ICC said the prosecution was not in a position to determine whether Al Masri is dead or alive, so was issuing the arrest warrant.

The court previously said it was seeking an arrest warrant for Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas who was subsequently killed in July.

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UK refuses to say if it would arrest Netanyahu after ICC warrant

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UK refuses to say if it would arrest Netanyahu after ICC warrant

The home secretary has refused to say if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be arrested if he landed on British soil after an international arrest warrant was issued for him.

On Thursday, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Israeli defence secretary Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the war in Gaza.

But Yvette Cooper said the ICC, which the UK is a member of, is independent and while the government respects that, it “wouldn’t be appropriate for me to comment” on the processes involved.

She told Sky News: “We’ve always respected the importance of international law, but in the majority of the cases that they pursue, they don’t become part of the British legal process.

“What I can say is that obviously, the UK government’s position remains that we believe the focus should be on getting a ceasefire in Gaza.”

However, Emily Thornberry, Labour chair of the foreign affairs committee in parliament, told Sky News: “If Netanyahu comes to Britain, our obligation under the Rome Convention would be to arrest him under the warrant from the ICC.

“Not really a question of should, we are required to because we are members of the ICC.”

The government said after winning July’s election it would not oppose the ICC’s right to issue the warrants.

An ICC arrest warrant was also issued for Hamas leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al Masri, the mastermind behind the 7 October attacks in Israel, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Israel claims Al Masri was killed earlier this year but the ICC said that has not been confirmed, so it was issuing the arrest warrant.

Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant (right). File pic: Reuters
Image:
Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant (right) have arrest warrants against them. File pic: Reuters

Netanyahu’s office said the warrants against him and Gallant were “anti-semitic” and said Israel “rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions”.

Neither Israel nor the US are members of the ICC. Israel has rejected the court’s jurisdiction and denies committing war crimes in Gaza.

US President Joe Biden described the warrants against Israeli leaders as “outrageous”, adding: “Whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas.”

Former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett said the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant were a “mark of shame” for the ICC.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews said the ICC’s decision sent a “terrible message”.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday he would invite Netanyahu to visit Hungary and he would guarantee the arrest warrant would “not be observed”.

However, both France and Italy signalled they would arrest Netanyahu if he came to their countries.

Read more:
What satellite images tell us about North Gaza

Hamas ready for Gaza ceasefire ‘immediately’

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Why have arrest warrants been issued?

The ICC originally said it was seeking arrest warrants for the three men in May for the alleged crimes and on Thursday announced that it had rejected challenges by Israel and issued warrants of arrest.

In its update, the ICC said it found “reasonable grounds to believe” that Netanyahu and Gallant “bear criminal responsibility” for alleged crimes.

These, the court said, include “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”.

It is the first time a sitting leader of a major Western ally has been accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity by a global court of justice.

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Another teenager dies after methanol poisonings in Laos – bringing total killed to six

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Another teenager dies after methanol poisonings in Laos - bringing total killed to six

A second Australian teenager has died after being poisoned with methanol in Laos, bringing the number of people killed to six.

Holly Bowles, 19, has died, according to the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Penny Wong, who said: “All Australians will be heartbroken by the tragic passing of Holly Bowles. I offer my deepest sympathies to her family and friends.”

Bianca Jones, who according to Australian authorities was Ms Bowles’s best friend, died earlier this week after both 19-year-olds fell ill on 13 November while staying in southeast Asian country.

They are two of six people who are believed to have died after drinking methanol-laced vodka in the tourist hotspot.

The death of British woman Simone White, 28, from Orpington, Kent, was announced on Thursday. She fell ill after reportedly drinking “free shots” from a local bar in Vang Vieng – a resort popular with backpackers.

Two Danish women in their 20s and a 56-year-old US citizen also died as a result of the mass poisoning.

Methanol, which is sometimes added to mixed drinks as a cheaper alternative to alcohol, but can cause severe poisoning or death.

The manager and owner of the hostel where the two Australians, both from Melbourne, were staying, has been detained, according to an officer at Vang Vieng’s Tourism Police office who refused to give his name.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

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