Content about Gaza Strip

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former defense minister Yoav Gallant, and possibly-deceased Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The court charged Netanyahu and Gallant with using starvation as a method of warfare and accused them of criminal responsibility for murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts in Gaza. Prosecutors said both Israeli officials intentionally deprived Gaza's civilian population of essential supplies and were responsible for attacks against civilians. The ICC rejected Israel's challenges to its jurisdiction, ruling that Palestine's territorial jurisdiction provides sufficient basis for the court's authority. Israel, which is not a party to the ICC, has consistently rejected the court's authority over its nationals.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk warned that "the darkest moment of the Gaza conflict is unfolding in the north of the Strip." Calling for urgent action by the international community, Türk stated: "Unimaginably, the situation is getting worse by the day. The Israeli Government's practices in northern Gaza risk emptying the area of all Palestinians. We are facing what could amount to crimes against humanity." Türk asserted that under the Geneva Convention, member states have "an obligation to act when a serious violation of international humanitarian law has been committed."

Chile filed a declaration of intervention in South Africa's genocide case against Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The South American country submitted its declaration under Article 63 of the Statute of the ICJ, which gives states a right to intervene in the interpretation of a multilateral convention. Chile's intervention focuses on the duty to prevent and punish genocide under the Genocide Convention.

A fresh round of ceasefire negotiations got underway in Doha, Qatar, aiming to bring an end to Israel’s more than 10-month-long war in the Gaza Strip and secure the release of the estimated 115 Israeli hostages still held by Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups. Forty-one of the hostages are believed to be dead, and the recorded death toll from Israel's military campaign has now reached over 40,000, according to health authorities in the Strip. That's roughly 2% of Gaza's pre-war population—or one out of every 50 residents—that has been killed.

Meeting in the Chinese capital, senior leaders from Fatah and Hamas as well as 12 other Palestinian factions signed a joint statement called the "Beijing Declaration to End the Division & Strengthen Palestinian National Unity," calling for establishment of an "interim government of national reconciliation" with a focus on post-conflict reconstruction of Gaza. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi described the event as an "historic moment for the cause of Palestine's liberation.” Asserting that "'Palestinians governing Palestine' is the basic principle for the post-conflict governance of Gaza," Wang called for an international peace conference to advance a two-state solution. Israel quicky rejected the agreement, with Foreign Minister Israel Katz saying that Hamas' rule in Gaza "will be crushed."