‘Civilised world’ must refuse to arrest Netanyahu, says Israel
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Israel has called on the “civilised world” to refuse to honour any arrest warrants against its leaders from the International Criminal Court.
Tal Heinrich, a government spokesperson, said: “We call on the nations of the civilised, free world - nations who despise terrorists and anyone who supports them - to stand by Israel. You should outright condemn this step.”
“Make sure the ICC understands where you stand. Oppose the prosecutor’s decision and declare that, even if warrants are issued, you do not intend to enforce them. Because this is not about our leaders. It’s about our survival.”
When asked if Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli prime minister, or Yoav Gallant, the defence minister, would travel abroad to ICC-signatory countries in the event arrest warrants are issued, Mr Heinrich said “let’s wait and see”.
“Earlier in the day, Mr Gallant described the request for an arrest warrant against him as “despicable and disgusting”.
The reaction from Israel’s allies in the West has been mixed, with some saying that any ruling made by the ICC should be respected, while others have expressed dismay at the fact that Israeli officials were listed on the same charge sheet as Hamas leaders.
On a trip to Austria, Rishi Sunak called the application for an arrest warrant “deeply unhelpful”, while communities minister Michael Gove said it was “wrong to project moral equivalence between Israel and Hamas.”
“There is a difference between a state attempting to defend its own citizens and a terrorist organisation… There can be no equivalence between them,” he said in a speech on antisemitism.
On Monday, ICC prosecutor Karim Khan, ICC prosecutor, said he had applied for arrest warrants for Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant for crimes including “wilful killing”, “extermination and/or murder”, and “starvation” during the invasion of Gaza.
Mr Khan also said the leaders of Hamas, including Qatar-based Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar, its Gaza head, “bear criminal responsibility” for actions committed during October 7.
These included “taking hostages”, “rape and other acts of sexual violence”, and “torture”.
03:30 PM BST
Today’s live blog is now closed
That’s all for today, thanks for following along. Here is a summary of the day:
Israel has called on “civilised nations” to refuse to arrest its top officials after the chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) applied for arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence minister, Yoav Gallant on Monday. An Israeli government spokesperson appealed to allies for support, saying “it’s not about our leaders, it is about our survival.”
Mr Gallant responded to the news that he had been listed on the charge sheet earlier in the day, calling it “despicable and disgusting” and saying that ICC prosecutor Karim Khan was trying to rob Israel of its right to defend itself.
On a trip to Austria, Rishi Sunak called the application for an arrest warrant “deeply unhelpful” and said that it would do nothing to help aid reach Gaza.
In intensified fighting in the Palestinian territories on Tuesday, the Palestinian authority reported seven deaths in an IDF raid on the town of Jenin in the West Bank. The IDF also upped their ground actions in the area of Jabalia in Gaza leading to increased pressure on local hospitals.
Tens of thousands of mourners attended the first day of funeral rites for Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi after he died in a helicopter crash in the north of the country on Sunday. A casket carrying his body was paraded through the town of Tabriz in the morning, with locals flooding the streets waving Iranian flags. In the afternoon, his coffin and those of eight other casualties, including his foreign minister, were flown to Tehran.
02:50 PM BST
Israeli officials seize TV equipment and take down live feed of Gaza
Israeli officials seized a camera and broadcasting equipment belonging to The Associated Press in southern Israel on Tuesday, accusing the news organization of violating a new media law by providing images to Al Jazeera.
The Qatari satellite channel is among thousands of clients that receive live video feeds from the AP and other news organizations.
“The Associated Press decries in the strongest terms the actions of the Israeli government to shut down our longstanding live feed showing a view into Gaza and seize AP equipment,” said Lauren Easton, vice president of corporate communications at the news organization.
Israeli officials seized the equipment in the southern town of Sderot on Tuesday and handed the news team a note signed by the Shlomo Karhi, communications minister, alleging it was violating the country’s foreign broadcaster law.
02:09 PM BST
US ambassador says ‘period of quiet’ needed for Israel-Saudi normalisation
Forging formal Israeli-Saudi relations as part of an emerging trilateral deal involving Washington would require a calming of the Gaza war and a discussion of prospects for Palestinian governance, US ambassador in Israel, Jack Lew, has said.
“There’s going to have to be some period of quiet, I think, in Gaza, and there’s going to have to be a conversation about how do you deal with the question of the future of Palestinian governance,” he told a conference hosted by the Israel Democracy Institute think-tank.
“My view is, that strategic benefit is worth taking the risk of getting into that conversation about. But that’s a decision that the government of Israel will have to make and the people of Israel will have to make.”
01:59 PM BST
Raisi’s casket arrives in Tehran
The coffins of the victims of the crash arrived in Tehran this afternoon. According to Iranian media, the bodies are going to stay in the Iranian capital while the funeral procession moves on to the holy city of Qom.
A funeral procession in planned for Wednesday in Tehran.
01:51 PM BST
More reaction to Raisi death: ‘I will not mourn him’
Some more interesting reaction from Europe to Raisi death, where governments have offered mixed responses to news of the accident.
“I don’t feel comfortable sending condolences while Iran is sending drones that are used against civilians in Ukraine,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis wrote on X.
UK Security Minister Tom Tugendhat echoed that in his own message on X: “President Raisi’s regime has murdered thousands at home, and targeted people here in Britain and across Europe. I will not mourn him.”
01:38 PM BST
Germany’s Scholz offers condolences to Iran
In a statement that is likely to elicit hefty domestic criticism, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has chosen to offer his condolences to Iran.
“Our condolences go to the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the families of those killed in the crash,” Scholz said in a message addressed to Iran’s Vice President Mohammad Mokhber.
Several western nations, including the United States, have extended condolences. But most, like France, have communicated their sympathies through their foreign ministry.
Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, a senior figure in the Free Democrats, a partner in Scholz’ coalition, blasted the EU yesterday for offering its condolences.
“What a mockery of the brave fighters for human rights in Iran. I expect an explanation for this,” she said.
01:28 PM BST
What does Raisi’s death mean for succession?
One of the most interesting questions arising from Raisi’s usudden death is what it means for succession planning in Iran.
Analysts seem to agree that Raisi was being groomed as a successor to the aged Ali Khamenei, who has been Supreme Leader since 1989.
Khamenei is just the second man to have performed this function after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who was the figurehead of the revolution in 1979.
The ultra-conservative faction had worked on raising Raisi’s public persona for years. Now that he is gone there is no hardline cleric with a similar level of recognition to replace him.
There has been some speculation that Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba, will now be in line to become the next supreme leader. But that would be a controversial move in a country that overthrew a hereditary monarchy in 1979.
12:13 PM BST
Israel reports intensified fighting in Gaza
Israel’s military has ground combats and air strikes on 70 targets in Gaza in the past 24 hours.
Fierce combat has also been reported again in the northern area of Jabalia where Hamas forces have regrouped.
Israel said Tuesday its forces had “eliminated several militants” in both areas.
The World Health Organization said Jabalia’s Al-Awda Hospital had been “under siege” for two days, trapping 170 patients and staff who had reported sniper fire and a rocket hit.
“We are running out of words to describe what is happening in Gaza,” Edem Wosornu of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs told a Security Council meeting on Monday.
“We have described it as a catastrophe, a nightmare, as hell on earth. It is all of these, and worse,” she said of conditions in the besieged territory of 2.4 million people.
11:59 AM BST
Qatar says Gaza truce, hostage release talks remain ‘close to stalemate’
Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said on Tuesday the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release talks between Israel and Hamas remain “close to a stalemate”.
Asked about the International Criminal Court prosecutor’s decision to seek arrest warrants against some Israeli and Hamas leaders, Al-Ansari said it was too early for Qatar to comment directly on that but that all states and organisations should be “held responsible for the killing of civilians.”
11:55 AM BST
Michael Gove blasts ICC and pro-Palestine protests in speech
In a speech on antisemitism today, communities minister Michael Gove has commented on the ICC decision to pursue Israel, describing it as “wrong to project moral equivalence between Israel and Hamas.”
“There is a difference between a state attempting to defend its own citizens and a terrorist organisation… There can be no equivalence between them,” he said.
He has also made some strident comments on domestic protests against Israel, saying that their real goal is the destruction of the Jewish state.
“Israel is denounced as an apartheid state conducting a genocide. The worst evils of the last 100 years — apartheid, genocide — are situated in one country,” he said.
11:45 AM BST
Lavrov blames US sanctions for Raisi helicopter crash
Putin’s long-time foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has said of the crash that “the Americans disown this, but the truth is that other countries against which the United States announced sanctions do not receive spare parts for American equipment, including aviation.”
“We are talking about deliberately causing damage to ordinary citizens who use these vehicles, and when spare parts are not supplied, this is directly related to a decrease in the level of safety,” Lavrov stated.
Raisi is believed to have been travelling on a US-built Bell helicopter. While it remains unclear when Iran purchased the vehicle, the country was a major buyer of Bell helicopters under the shah.
11:28 AM BST
Tens of thousands turn out for first view of Raisi’s coffin
Tens of thousands of Iranians attended the first funeral rite for Raisi in the northern city of Tabriz on Tuesday morning.
Waving Iranian flags and portraits of the late president, mourners set off from a central square where they walked behind a lorry carrying the coffins of Raisi and those who died with him, including foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
The men were headed for Tabriz via helicopter when their aircraft crashed in bad weather on Sunday.
“We, the members of the government, who had the honour to serve this beloved president, the hardworking president, pledge to our dear people and leader to follow the path of these martyrs,” Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said in a speech.
11:14 AM BST
Some more pics from Raisi’s funeral in Tabriz
11:03 AM BST
Iranians take to streets as Raisi’s body begins nationwide funeral tour
Iranians have gathered to mourn president Ebrahim Raisi in the northwestern city of Tabriz.
The body of the president, who died in a helicopter crash on Sunday, will tour the country as part of five days of mourning announced by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader.
A hardliner, Raisi had been in office since 2021. Since then Iran has been rocked by mass protests against the repression of women and has been involved in an escalating shadow war with Israel.
Iran has announced an inquiry into the causes of the crash. Speculation in the Islamic Republic has pointed at both sabotage and a technical failure linked to western sanctions.
11:02 AM BST
Iranian prosecutor orders crackdown on descent
Iranian Prosecutor General Mohammad Kazem Movahhedi Azad has called for arrests of anyone who “insults” Raisi and other victims of the helicopter crash.
Azad issued an order demanding cases be filed against those “publishing false content, lies and insults” against Raisi, according to the semiofficial ISNA news agency.
On Sunday night, as news of the crash spread, anti-government chants were heard in the night.
Fireworks were also spotted in some parts of Tehran, although Sunday also marked a remembrance for Imam Reza, one of the most important figures in the Shi’a religion.
Raisi was hated among dissidents and women’s rights activists, and critical messages and dark jokes over the crash have circulated online.
10:32 AM BST
Raisi to be buried at shrine for heroes of Persian history
Raisi is being given an unusual honour in receiving a burial at the Imam Reza shrine, according to AP:
After his casket is taken to several cities, it will find its final resting place at the Imam Reza shrine in the holy city of Mashhad, which is Raisi’s hometown.
That shrine has long been a center of pilgrimage and sees millions visit each year. Over the centuries, its grounds have served as the final burial site for heroes in Persian history. It’s an incredibly high, rare honour in the faith.
Mohammad-Ali Rajai, the only other president to die in office when he was killed in a 1981 bombing, was buried in Tehran.
10:00 AM BST
VIDEO: UK and US diplomats at UN stand for minute’s silence for Raisi
09:56 AM BST
Gallant calls ICC arrest warrant ‘despicable and disgusting’
Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant, who was named alongside Netanyahu on the ICC prosecutor’s charge sheet on Monday, has responded on X:
“The State of Israel has been fighting since October 7th against a murderous and bloodthirsty enemy, which has committed atrocities against Israeli women, children and men, and is now using its own people as a human shield.”
“The IDF fights in accordance with the rules of international law, taking unique humanitarian efforts the likes of which have not been taken in any armed conflict.
“The prosecutor’s parallel between the terrorist organization Hamas and the State of Israel is despicable and disgusting... (prosecutor) Karim Khan’s attempt to deny the State of Israel the right to defend itself and release its hostages must be rejected outright.”
09:36 AM BST
France begins its first war crimes trial of Syrian officials
The first trial in France of officials from the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad opened on Tuesday, with three top security officers to be tried in absentia for complicity in crimes against humanity.
On trial are Ali Mamlouk, former head of the National Security Bureau, Jamil Hassan, former director of the Air Force intelligence service, and Abdel Salam Mahmoud, former head of investigations for the service in Damascus.
The case concerns their role in the the deaths of two French Syrian men, Mazzen Dabbagh and his son Patrick, who were arrested in Damascus in 2013.
The accused are the highest level Syrian officials yet to be put on trial in absentia and they are subject to international arrest warrants.
09:25 AM BST
More photos from Raisi’s funeral procession
09:19 AM BST
Video: mourners touch Raisi’s coffin at funeral procession
08:59 AM BST
Large turnout for funeral procession in north Iran
Film footage from the north Iranian city of Tabriz indicates a large turnout of thousands of people for the procession, with film posted online showing a predominantly male crowd swarming around a lorry that is carrying the bodies of Raisi and seven other officials who died in the crash.
In attendance at the funeral procession in Tabriz is interior minister Ahmad Vahidi. He told state television that any other country would have faced “a bleak future” in similar circumstances but Iran will “move through this event smoothly”.
08:43 AM BST
VIDEO: US President Biden gives his opinion on ICC arrest warrant
08:39 AM BST
Italy says ‘unacceptable’ to put Israel, Hamas on same level
Italy’s foreign minister said Tuesday it was “unacceptable” and “absurd” to compare Israel and Hamas after the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor applied for arrest warrants for leaders on both sides.
“It is completely unacceptable that Hamas and Israel are put on the same level,” Antonio Tajani said in an interview with the Corriere della Sera newspaper, adding: “Be careful not to legitimise anti-Israeli positions that can fuel anti-Semitic phenomena.”
08:37 AM BST
Yemen’s Houthis say they downed another US drone
Yemen’s Houthis claim to have downed a U.S. MQ9 drone over al-Bayda province in southern Yemen.
The Iran-aligned militant group say they shot the drone down with a locally made surface-to-air missile.
Last Friday they claimed to have downed another U.S. MQ9 drone over the southeastern province of Maareb. Video released by the group appeared to corroborate that hit.
A single MQ9 drone costs around $30 million (£24 million) to build and can fly at altitudes of 50,000 feet.
The Houthis controls Yemen’s capital and most populous areas of the Arabian Peninsula state. It has attacked international shipping in the Red Sea since November as part of the Iranian-orchestrated war against Israel.
08:18 AM BST
Picture of crowds gathering in Tehran yesterday evening
08:13 AM BST
Palestinian ministry says Israeli troops killed 7 in West Bank raid
The Palestinian health ministry said that Israeli forces killed seven Palestinians during a raid on Tuesday in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, where the Israeli military said troops were engaged in a counterterrorism operation.
The ministry in Ramallah said seven people had been killed and nine wounded in the raid, including two who were in a critical condition.
08:08 AM BST
Raisi’s body to arrive in Tehran later on Tuesday
The Iranian president’s body will tour the country in the coming days, after Iran’s leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced five days of mourning on Monday.
After leaving Tabriz, Raisi’s body will arrive in Iran’s Shiite clerical centre of Qom later on Tuesday before being taken to Tehran.
Khamenei is due to hold prayers at a farewell ceremony in Tehran on Tuesday night, ahead of major processions due to begin on Wednesday morning.
Raisi will then be taken to Southern Khorasan province on Thursday morning and later to his hometown of Mashhad, where he will be buried on Thursday evening after funerary rites.
