Israel Strikes Gaza and Issues Arrest Warrants

• Israel’s military killed two commanders involved in Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack, following the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrants.

• Israel also carried out strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah holds sway.

• The ICC has accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant of “criminal responsibility” for the war crime of starvation and other crimes against humanity against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.

• The decision has drew mixed reactions from world leaders, with some vowing to arrest the Israelis if they entered their country’s territory.

• U.S. President Joe Biden has condemned the ICC’s decision, which Netanyahu dismissed as “absurd” and driven by anti-Semitic hatred of Israel.

• China, like Israel and the U.S., urged the court to uphold an objective and just position.