JERUSALEM: The Israeli army lost four soldiers on Friday when an “explosive device” went off near a school in Gaza City.

“The four soldiers were killed in the same incident, from an explosive device near a school in the area of Zeitoun”, a southern neighbourhood of Gaza City, the military said.

In a statement, the military said that two other soldiers were “seriously injured” in the blast, including an officer.

Separately, the Israeli military said that two soldiers were seriously wounded in fighting in southern Gaza, adding that they had been evacuated to hospital for treatment.

Several armed groups issued statements on Friday claiming a range of attacks in Gaza.

The Al Quds Brigade, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, said it “detonated a field of mines and high-explosive ground devices” in the Zeitoun neighbourhood.

Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades, said it attacked Israeli soldiers in the east of Rafah, the far southern city where Israeli troops launched a controversial incursion on Tuesday.

The latest deaths take to 271 the Israeli military’s losses in the Gaza campaign since the start of its ground offensive on Oct 27.

‘Back to square one’

Hamas said on Friday that Israel’s rejection of a truce plan submitted by mediators at talks in Cairo had sent talks on a ceasefire and prisoner release back to “square one”.

“The rejection of the mediators’ proposal by Israel... has returned matters to square one,” the group said in an English-language statement, a day after Israeli and Hamas negotiating teams left Cairo talks on the terms of a truce without a deal.

Hamas said it had agreed to the plan which involved the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, the return of displaced civilians and the exchange of prisoners, with the aim of a “permanent ceasefire” — something Israel has long resisted, insisting it must first finish dismantling Hamas.

Attacks against ICC

Several independent UN experts on Friday denounced attacks made against the International Criminal Court (ICC), particularly from Israel and the United States, which “promote a culture of impunity”.

“It is distressing to see state officials threatening to retaliate against a Court for pursuing international justice,” a statement by the experts said on Friday.

This came “at a time when the world should unite to end the terrible bloodshed in Gaza and seek justice for those unlawfully killed, injured, traumatised, or taken hostage, since Oct 7”.

Mandated by the Human Rights Council, the experts are part of the largest independent body in the UN human rights system but do not speak on behalf of the UN.

Last week, the ICC itself launched a warning against “individuals who threaten to retaliate” against the tribunal or its staff saying such actions might constitute an “offence against its administration of justice”.

The caution came after reports suggested the ICC was preparing to issue arrest warrants to members of the Israeli government _which could include Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- in connection with Israel’s military operations in Gaza.

Netanyahu said that a war crimes indictment of Israeli officials would be “an outrage of historic proportions”, alleging that the ICC was “trying to put Israel in the dock”.

The ICC opened a probe in 2021 into Israel over possible war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The investigation now “extends to the escalation of hostilities and violence since the (Hamas) attacks that took place on October 7, 2023” in Israel.

The unprecedented attacks resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally of Israeli official figures.

Over 250 prisoners were also seized, of whom Israel estimates 128 remain in Gaza.

Israel’s offensive has killed at least 34,943 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

The ICC is the world’s only independent court set up to probe the gravest offences by individual suspects, including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Published in Dawn, May 11th, 2024