BJP president JP Nadda tests positive for Covid-19

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant over war crimes against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The court’s Pre-Trial Chamber I issued warrants of arrest for Netanyahu and Gallant "for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024, the day the Prosecution filed the applications for warrants of arrest”, it confirmed in a statement Thursday.

It is the first instance in the court's 22-year history it has issued arrest warrants for Western-allied senior officials.

In its statement, the ICC's Pre-Trial Chamber I, a panel of three judges, said it has rejected appeals by Israel challenging its jurisdiction. 

The chamber said it has decided to release the arrest warrants because "conduct similar to that addressed in the warrant of arrest appears to be ongoing", referring to Israel's ongoing onslaught on Gaza.

Netanyahu and Gallant, it said, “each bear criminal responsibility” for “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts,” as well as “intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population.”

All 124 states that signed the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the court, are now under an obligation to arrest the wanted individuals and hand them over to the ICC in the Hague. 

The court relies on the cooperation of member states to arrest and surrender suspects. The Netherlands' foreign minister quickly said his country was prepared to enforce the warrants while 93 nations earlier reiterated their support for the ICC.

Triestino Mariniello, a lawyer representing Palestinian victims at the ICC, called the warrants "a historic decision".

He noted that the court had endured "pressure and threats of sanctions" from the US government, but acted nonetheless.

As expected, the Tel Aviv regime rejected the rulings, with its security minister Itamar Ben Gvir calling the warrants “anti-Semitic through and through.”

The ICC said Israel’s acceptance of the court’s jurisdiction was not required.

Israel and its major ally, the United States, are not members of the court. 

Israel unleashed its bloody Gaza onslaught on October 7, 2023. So far, it has killed at least 43,985 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 104,092 others, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Israel faces an ongoing South Africa-led genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Former minister and ex-MLC C M Ibrahim claimed that he still heads the original JD(S) and asked former prime minister and party supremo H D Deve Gowda to cut ties with the BJP, so that the party can be strengthened again. He also said options are being explored to either strengthen the JD(S) or to float a new regional party.

He was speaking to media persons, in Mysuru, on Monday, after meeting JD(S) MLA and former minister G T Deve Gowda, who has expressed his displeasure that he has been sidelined in the party and the party leaders have indicated his retirement from politics.

He stated, “If Deve Gowda had joined the Congress, during the last Assembly election, he would have been a minister now. We retained him in the JD(S), to strengthen the party. Now, efforts are being made to strangulate Deve Gowda’s political career. I have discussed all matters with Deve Gowda. In two days, I will start a Karnataka state tour and meet some leaders. After that, I will meet Deve Gowda again, and then decide on the further course of action.”

Ibrahim said, “The original JD(S) is ours. I am still its state president. All documents and accounts are in our name. Even now, if Deve Gowda leaves BJP’s company and returns, we will build the JD(S) again”.

“Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy should mend his ways and stop making JD(S) into a family-owned company. The JD(S)’s situation has become hopeless. Its love for the BJP is over. He should understand this,” he said.

“When I was with Kumaraswamy, he spent just Rs 4 crore in Channapatna and won by 20,000 votes. Now, without me, he spent Rs 150 crore and still lost by 25,000 votes. Without Muslims’ support, the JD(S) cannot win a single seat. Now, it is proved that 19 MLAs of the JD(S) won in 2023, because of Muslims,” he added.

Speaking on other options available, Ibrahim said, “We have not yet decided to go with the Congress. We are only considering to establish a third front. Whether it is founding a new regional party, forming a third front, or strengthening the JD(S), will be decided shortly.”

Earlier during the day, before meeting Deve Gowda, Ibrahim had said, that 12 to 13 JD(S) MLAs were dissatisfied with the party, but like Deve Gowda, were enduring pain.

“Now, I have started the task of uniting them. I as the JD(S) state president, it is my responsibility to address our MLAs’ grievances. At present, the JD(S) is on fire and all JD(S) MLAs want to protect their respective constituency. Hence, they have started speaking one by one,” he said.

An Israeli airstrike on the office of Syria’s Baath party in Lebanon’s capital Beirut has killed the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah's Media Relations Officer, Mohammad Afif, reports say.

Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) reported that the Israeli raid struck the Ba'ath party’s building in central Beirut district of Ras Al-Naba'a on Sunday, adding that the strike was an attempt to assassinate the leader of the resistance media front.

According to Baath Secretary-General Ali Hijazi, Afif was having a meeting in the Baath Party headquarters when Israel carried out the attack.

"Afif did not fight with weapons and did not lead a military unit in Hezbollah. Rather, he led a media unit," he said.

Reuters, Sky News, Al Jazeera and a number of Henrew-language media reported that Afif was killed in the Israeli strike.

However, Hezbollah has not yet confirmed Afif’s death or whether he was present at the site or not.

Earlier, the Lebanese Health Ministry said at least one person was killed and three others injured after an Israeli strike targeted a central district in Beirut.

Lebanon's al-Mayadeen television network reported that five people were killed in the attack.

The latest development came after Afif said Hezbollah was behind the Caesarea operation and targeting Netanyahu’s home during a speech at the Ghobeiry area in the southern suburbs of Beirut on October 22.

This was the second assassination attempt on Afif in the last two months, after he survived an attack on the Hezbollah media relations office several weeks ago.

Israel launched a ground assault and massive air campaign against Lebanon in late September after a year of exchanging fire across the Lebanese border in parallel with the Gaza war.

At least 3,287 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon over the past year, with the vast majority in the past seven weeks. Another 14,222 have been wounded, mostly women and children.

In response to the ongoing aggression, the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah has been staging hundreds of retaliatory strikes against the occupied Palestinian territories and the Israeli forces trying to advance on southern Lebanese areas.

The movement has vowed to sustain its strikes until the regime ends the escalation.