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The International Criminal Court’s top prosecutor Karim Khan on Thursday urged the body’s 124 members as well as non-members to cooperate with the arrest warrants issued against Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas’s military chief Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri (also known as Mohammed Deif).
US President Joe Biden on Thursday called the International Criminal Court’s move to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister “outrageous.”
“The ICC issuance of arrest warrants against Israeli leaders is outrageous,” said Biden in a statement. “Let me be clear once again: whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas. We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.”
Read Also: Washington Condemns ICC Move Against Israeli Leader
Over 44,000 dead in Gaza since start of Israel-Hamas war, Palestinian officials say
The Gaza Health Ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, but it has said that more than half of the fatalities are women and children. The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
The Health Ministry said 44,056 people have been killed and 104,268 wounded since the start of the war. It has said the real toll is higher because thousands of bodies are buried under rubble or in areas that medics cannot access.
Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead. Most of the rest were released during a cease-fire last year.
In Lebanon, the death toll from Israeli strikes and combat has surpassed 3,580 people, with more than 15,000 wounded, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. At least 51 people were killed Thursday in Israeli strikes on towns and villages across Lebanon.
The ministry in separate statements reported “seven dead and 24 wounded” in “Israeli enemy strikes” on south Lebanon’s Nabatiyeh district, and “five dead and 26 wounded” in strikes elsewhere in southern Lebanon.
“Israeli enemy strikes that targeted the Baalbek district” left “40 dead and 52 wounded”, a health ministry statement said, listing tolls for 10 different locations.
