Israel’s foreign minister yesterday headed to France in a bid to contain the fallout from the decision by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to request arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders, a move supported by several European countries, including key ally France.
France, as well as Belgium and Slovenia, each said on Monday that they backed the move by ICC prosecutor Karim Khan, who accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders — Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh — of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip and Israel.
Their support exposes divisions in the West’s approach to Israel and deepens the country’s global isolation over its conduct in the war in Gaza.
Photo: AFP
Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Israel Katz’s meetings with his French counterpart and other senior officials could set the tone for how countries navigate the warrants — if they are eventually issued — and whether they could pose a threat to Israeli leaders.
Israel still has the support of its top ally, the US, as well as other Western countries that spoke out against the decision, but if the warrants are issued, they could complicate international travel for Netanyahu and Gallant. Israel itself is not a member of the court.
As the fallout from the prosecutor’s decision spiraled, violence continued in the region, with an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank killing at least seven Palestinians, including a local doctor, Palestinian health officials said.
In a late-night statement on Monday about the warrant requests, France said it “supports the International Criminal Court, its independence, and the fight against impunity in all situations.”
“France has been warning for many months about the imperative of strict compliance with international humanitarian law and in particular about the unacceptable nature of civilian losses in the Gaza Strip and insufficient humanitarian access,” the statement said.
Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders condemned the prosecutor’s move as disgraceful and anti-Semitic.
US President Joe Biden also lambasted the prosecutor and supported Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas.
The UK called the move “not helpful,” saying the ICC does not have jurisdiction in the case.
A panel of three judges is to decide whether to issue the arrest warrants and allow a case to proceed. The judges typically take two months to make such decisions.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
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