Israel's Gaza invasion - Day 412

Israeli authorities will stop holding Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank under administrative detention, or incarceration without trial, the defence ministry has announced, according to AFP.

The practice, used against Palestinians and Israelis who may be deemed security threats, “is inappropriate” for Israel to employ against settlers who “face severe Palestinian terror threats and unjustified international sanctions”, said Defence Minister Israel Katz in a statement.

He added that prosecution or “other preventive measures” would be used to deal with criminal acts in the West Bank.

Israeli settler violence, intimidation and harassment has driven more than 1,720 Palestinians in Bedouin and other herding communities from their homes in the occupied West Bank in just over a year, according to the UN, Al Jazeera reports.

Also, between November 12 and 18, a total of 25 Palestinians, including children, were displaced as a result of Israeli settler violence directed against them, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its latest situation report on the occupied West Bank.

Among the 1,722 Palestinians displaced in total by settlers since October 7 2023, there were 835 children, according to OCHA.

In one attack by armed settlers on November 15, assailants threatened Palestinian families to leave their homes at gunpoint and warned they would be set on “fire if they stayed”.

“During the attack, settlers broke the windows and physically assaulted both the father and his son” who were in one of the homes that were raided, the UN said.

“The father later reported that his family was traumatized and had to leave without gathering their belongings,” OCHA adds.

Palestinian ambulance crews have retrieved the bodies of two people killed in Gaza’s southern town of Khirbet al-Adas, near Rafah, Al Jazeera Arabic reports.

Meanwhile, the death toll from an earlier attack on a tent camp in the al-Mawasi area of central Gaza has risen to three, including two children.

Slovenia will respect arrest warrants for Israel and Hamas leaders issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and “will fully comply”, Prime Minister Robert Golob was quoted as saying by Slovenian news agency STA late on Thursday, Reuters reports.

The atmosphere has been very tense over the past 24 hours, especially in the north of the Strip, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum reports from Deir el-Balah, central Gaza.

Beit Lahiya’s Kamal Adwan Hospital was squarely targeted overnight, especially its emergency gate where a group of people were hit.

“Once medics rushed to the hospital’s courtyard to reach the wounded, they were targeted by an Israeli quadcopter drone,” Azzoum said.

Witnesses said the drone dropped grenades, injuring six medical staff. One of them is described as in a critical condition. He’s now getting treatment inside the hospital. The facility’s water tanks and oxygen station also suffered significant damage.

Ireland would be prepared to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he came to the country following the International Criminal Court arrest warrant issued on Thursday, Prime Minister Simon Harris said, Reuters reports.

“Yes absolutely. We support international courts and we apply their warrants,” Harris told national broadcaster RTE when asked if Netanyahu would be arrested if he arrived in Ireland for whatever reason.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said he would invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit Hungary, saying he would guarantee that an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Netanyahu would “not be observed”, Reuters reports.

US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has welcomed the “long overdue” decision by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity, Anadolu reports.

“Since this genocide began, the United States has provided more than $18 billion in weapons to the Israeli government,” Tlaib said, adding the Biden administration “can no longer deny that those same US weapons have been used in countless war crimes,” including the use of “starvation as a weapon of war.”

“Our government must urgently end our complicity in these violations of human rights and international law,” she said. “Netanyahu and Gallant must be arrested and brought before the ICC.”

China urged the International Criminal Court to remain objective and fair after it issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, AFP reports.

“China hopes the ICC will uphold an objective and just position (and) exercise its powers in accordance with the law,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a regular press conference in response to a question about the court’s warrant for Netanyahu.

Lin also accused the United States of “double standards” in response to a question about the US opposition to the court’s pursuit of Netanyahu, but its support for a warrant against Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

“China consistently opposes certain countries only use international law when it suits them… and engaging in double standards,” Lin said.

The Israeli military said it had “eliminated” five Hamas fighters, including two commanders, in an overnight raid in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahia, AFP reports.

In a statement, the military and the Shin Bet security agency said they had “eliminated five Hamas terrorists, including a Nukhba (commando) company commander and an additional company commander who participated in the October 7 massacre” that sparked the Gaza conflict last year, adding that the slain militants had “led the murders and kidnappings in the area of Mefalsim”, a kibbutz in southern Israel.

Australia has cautiously backed the role of the International Criminal Court (ICC) but refused to directly refer to the arrest warrants issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Anadolu reports.

“Australia respects the independence of the ICC and its important role in upholding international law,” said Foreign Minister Penny Wong.

Calling on all parties to comply with international law, Wong added that Australia is “focused on working with countries that want peace to press for an urgently needed cease-fire.”

The latest order has been given to residents in the southern city of Tyre, who have been ordered to flee buildings in the vicinity of a site highlighted for attack on an aerial map of the city, Al Jazeera reports.

“This building was supposed to be targeted yesterday, but it will be targeted soon,” the Israeli military’s Arabic language spokesman said in his fourth post on social media in two hours warning of attacks.

Israeli fighter jets have already launched strikes targeting the Haret Hreik and al-Hadath neighbourhoods in the southern suburbs of Beirut, as well as the town of Naqoura in southern Lebanon’s Tyre district, according to reports.

The southern Lebanese areas of Borj El Chmali and Ma’shouq, and the southern villages of Taybeh, Aadshit al-Qusayr village and Deir Siriane were ordered to evacuate earlier today.

Israeli fighter jets have launched four raids targeting the Haret Hreik and al-Hadath neighbourhoods in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Al Jazeera Arabic reports.

The Israeli military has also attacked the town of Naqoura in southern Lebanon’s Tyre district with incendiary bombs.

The extent of the damage following both attacks is not yet known. No casualties or injuries have been reported so far.

Israel’s ambassador to the UN is one of the latest Israeli officials to express outrage at the ICC’s arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, Al Jazeera reports.

Speaking to Israel’s Arutz Sheva media, ambassador Danny Danon called the ICC warrants “a shameful and political decision”.

“We need to speak with our allies and move forward with a decision to boycott the ICC and anyone who cooperates with it,” said Danon.

During the same interview, Danon also referenced the failed Gaza ceasefire resolution at the UN Security Council, which was vetoed by the US on November 20. He accused countries advocating for a ceasefire of “abandoning their own citizens” because “there are hostages from many nationalities”.

“There will be no ceasefire without the hostages,” he added.

The spokesperson for the United Nations secretary-general says that the UN does respect the decision of the International Criminal Court, and he called on member states to uphold their obligations under international law, Al Jazeera reports.

“Practically speaking, however, this will have little impact on the UN’s role in providing humanitarian assistance to the people of Palestine,” Al Jazeera’s Kristen Saloomey reports from the UN Headquarters, New York City.

The spokesperson said that UN officials may need to continue their contact with these indicted Israeli officials in order to fulfil their mandates. But that contact is allowed under UN rules.

The Israeli military’s spokesperson Avichay Adraee said that civilians in southern Lebanon must “evacuate without delay” and move to the northern side of the Awali river.

“You are prohibited from heading south. Any movement south could be dangerous to your life,” he said in a post on X, adding the residents would be informed of “the appropriate time to return to your homes”.

The UN’s deputy special envoy for Syria, Najat Rochdi, has warned the country is being battered by regional conflicts and increasing attacks within the country will likely make this year its most violent since 2020, Al Jazeera reports.

Speaking at the UN Security Council on Thursday, Rochdi urged all countries and parties with influence “to prevent Syria being further swept into a broader conflagration” and warned that “once again, Israeli air strikes on Syria have increased significantly, both in frequency and scope”.

Rochdi pointed to the attack near Palmyra city on Wednesday that killed dozens, and which she said was “likely the deadliest Israeli strike in Syria to date”.

Israeli strikes on residential areas in the capital Damascus as well as on bridges, roads and border crossings have further hindered civilians fleeing the war in Lebanon and disrupted essential imports and exports, she said.

US Senator Bernie Sanders said he supported the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Prime Minister Netanyahu, former Defence Minister Gallant, and Hamas military commander Deif, saying “all launched indiscriminate attacks against civilians and caused unimaginable human suffering”, Al Jazeera reports.

“If the world does not uphold international law, we will descend into further barbarism,” he said in a post on X, alongside a longer statement.

“I agree with the ICC,” Sanders added.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) decision to issue arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister “ignores” the country’s right to defend itself, Argentina’s leader said according to AFP.

Argentina “declares its deep disagreement” with the decision, which “ignores Israel’s legitimate right to self-defence against the constant attacks by terrorist organisations like Hamas and Hezbollah,” President Javier Milei said in a statement on the X social media network.

“Israel faces brutal aggression, inhumane hostage-taking and indiscriminate attacks on its population,” Milei said in his reaction to the ICC warrants.

“Criminalising the legitimate defence of a nation while ignoring these atrocities is an act that distorts the spirit of international justice,” he added.

US President Joe Biden called the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for top Israeli leaders “outrageous” in a statement, AFP reports.

“Whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas,” Biden said after the international tribunal issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant on suspicion of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

“We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security,” the president added.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that an arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over his conduct in the Gaza bombardment would not stop him from defending Israel, AFP reports.

“No outrageous anti-Israel decision will prevent us — and it will not prevent me — from continuing to defend our country in every way,” Netanyahu said in a video statement. “We will not yield to pressure,” he vowed.

He described Thursday’s decision as a “dark day in the history of nations”.

“The International Criminal Court in The Hague, which was established to protect humanity, has today become the enemy of humanity,” he said, adding that the accusations were “utterly baseless”.

Netanyahu said the court was accusing Israel of “fictitious crimes”, while ignoring “the real war crimes, horrific war crimes being committed against us and against many others around the world”.