Skip next section Lawyer Amal Clooney among experts consulted by ICC over war crimes arrest warrants
05/21/2024May 21, 2024
Lawyer Amal Clooney among experts consulted by ICC over war crimes arrest warrants
The prominent international human rights lawyer has confirmed that she was part of a panel of legal experts that the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, tasked with evaluating evidence of suspected war crimes committed during the ongoing conflict between in the Gaza Strip.
“I served on this panel because I believe in the rule of law and the need to protect civilian lives,” she wrote in a statement published on the website of the , which she founded with her husband, actor George Clooney.
“As a human rights lawyer, I will never accept that one child’s life has less value than another’s,” she continued. “I do not accept that any conflict should be beyond the reach of the law, nor that any perpetrator should be above the law.”
Clooney said that the panel was “unanimous” in its conclusions that there are “reasonable grounds to believe” that leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh, and Israeli Prime Minister and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In conclusion, the British-Lebanese barrister said she supported the “historic step … to bring justice to victims of atrocities in Israel and Palestine” and that she hoped that “justice will prevail in a region that has already suffered too much.”
https://p.dw.com/p/4g5xp
Skip next section Gallant calls ICC move ‘despicable’
05/21/2024May 21, 2024
Gallant calls ICC move ‘despicable’
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant described as “despicable” the application for arrest warrants for top , including himself, over alleged war crimes.
“The attempt by Prosecutor Karim Khan to deny the State of Israel the right to self-defense and to free its hostages must be rejected out of hand,” Gallant said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
He said that Israel does not recognize the court’s authority, stressing that any parallels “drawn between the Hamas terrorist organization and the State of Israel is despicable.”
https://p.dw.com/p/4g5hq
Skip next section Yemen’s Houthis claim US drone shot down
05/21/2024May 21, 2024
Yemen’s Houthis claim US drone shot down
The Iran-backed in claimed on Tuesday to have shot down an American MQ-9 “Reaper” drone over the southern province of Bayda.
In a televised statement, Houthi military spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree alleged the drone had been “carrying out hostile missions” over Yemen and claimed it had been shot down with a locally made surface-to-air missile.
If confirmed, it would be the second “Reaper” drone downed by the Houthis in the space of a few days after the rebels claimed on Friday to have shot one down over the western province of Marib.
Yemen’s Houthis have been launching attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea, claiming their campaign is in solidarity with the Palestinians in . Since February, a US and UK-led coalition has been stationed in the region to protect shipping and carry out retaliatory strikes.
https://p.dw.com/p/4g5ou
Skip next section Seven killed in West Bank raid, Palestinian health ministry says
05/21/2024May 21, 2024
Seven killed in West Bank raid, Palestinian health ministry says
Palestinian health officials said that seven people, including a doctor, were killed on Tuesday during a raid by troops in the city of Jenin in the .
According to officials, a surgeon, a teacher and a pupil were among those killed.
The Palestinian health ministry in Ramallah said that at least nine more people had been injured, at least two of whom are said to be in critical condition.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued a statement stating that soldiers had conducted a “counterterrorism operation in Jenin.”
The city of Jenin, in the north of the West Bank, is considered a stronghold for Palestinian militant groups and is regularly raided by Israeli troops.
The West Bank is among the seized by Israel in 1967 and occupied since. The current has also seen an increase in violence in the West Bank, where some 500 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023, according to Palestinian officials.
At least 12 Israelis have also been killed in attacks by Palestinians in the region since, according to the AFP news agency, citing official Israeli figures.
mf/rmt (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)
https://p.dw.com/p/4g5YT
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