Middle East: Orban to defy arrest warrant, invite Netanyahu

A Lebanese hospital director and six of his colleagues were killed by Israeli airstrikes on Friday, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

The ministry said Dr. Ali Allam, director of the Dar Al-Amal Hospital, was killed along with six colleagues when the strikes "targeted his residence near the hospital" in the east of the country.

The hospital was the largest health center in Baalbek-Hermel province.

Lebanese state-run media reported that the strike came without warning and provincial governor Bachir Khodr said on social media that Allam "was one of the best citizens of Baalbek."

The Lebanese Health Ministry denounced "continual Israeli aggression against medical staff and facilities."

Israeli authorities did not immediately comment on the reports.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said she plans to address the arrest warrant for Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu at the upcoming meeting of foreign ministers of the G7 group.

The meeting is set to be held starting Monday in Fiuggi, a town near the Italian capital, Rome.

"This government remains firm on one point: there can be no equivalence between the responsibilities of the State of Israel and the terrorist organization Hamas," a statement from the Italian prime minister said.

Besides the warrant for Netanyahu, the International Criminal Court (ICC) is also seeking the arrest of former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas commander Mohammed Deif.

Meloni said that she would be "looking into the motivations" of the ICC.

Other G7 members include the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, France and Germany.

The United States and Israel do not recognize the ICC.

The German government has said it is "hard to imagine" it would arrest Netanyahu.

Law Professor Yvonne McDermott Rees from Swansea University in the UK told DW that state signatories would be obliged to transfer Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the International Criminal Court (ICC) after an arrest warrant was issued against him.

The Rome Statute that established the ICC has 124 signatories, including the UK, Germany and the State of Palestine. Israel and the United States are not among the signatories.

"In practical terms, this means that those states who are signed up … would be obliged to transfer any of these defendants," she said.

Besides Netanyahu, the ICC also put out arrest warrants for former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas commander Mohammed Deif.

Israel says it killed Deif in a July airstrike on southern Gaza, a claim Hamas has denied.

Rees said she was "really struck by the comments" of German government spokesperson Steffan Hebestreit, who said it was "hard to imagine" Germany arresting Netanyahu in light of the country's historic responsibility toward Israel.

"I think we're starting to see those double standards maybe starting to play out in practice where perhaps these states never envisioned that their allies would one day find themselves subject to arrest warrants of this nature," Rees said.
 

Over 320 aid workers have been killed in the war in Gaza since October 7, 2023, according to the United Nations' humanitarian agency (OCHA).

The report said also said that 2024 is already the "deadliest [year] on record for humanitarian personnel" with the death count surpassing the previous record of 280 aid workers killed last year.

"Humanitarian workers are being killed at an unprecedented rate, their courage and humanity being met with bullets and bombs," said OCHA official Tom Fletcher.

Most of those killed were staff members of the UN's Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), which provides aid to Palestinians in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, among other places.

Israel has claimed that UNRWA schools in which Palestinians have sought refuge have served as Hamas command centers.

Four Italian soldiers were lightly injured after two rockets exploded at United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) base in southern Lebanon, both UNIFIL and the Italian government said.

UNIFIL said the rockets had likely been shot by Hezbollah or affiliated groups, and that they caused "significant" damage to nearby infrastructure. 

Italy Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said she calls for both sides "to ensure the safety of UNIFIL soldiers at all times and to work together to quickly identify those responsible."

Three medics were killed and three wounded in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese Health Ministry reports.

This comes as the conflict between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah group continues, despite the ongoing ceasefire negotiations brokered by the US.

The World Health Organization also said that 226 health workers have been killed and nearly 200 injured in Lebanon since October 7 last year when the Gaza-based Hamas group attacked Israel. Almost 70% of those have been killed since the escalation in fighting between Hezbollah and Israel this September.

Hanan Balkhy, WHO's regional director for the eastern Mediterranean region, says the deaths of so many health workers "cripples a health system" when people need it most.

"Beyond the loss of life, the death of health workers is a loss of years of investment and a crucial resource to a fragile country going forward," she said.

The British government said it would "comply with its legal obligations" but stopped short of pledging to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he enters the UK.

Netanyahu is wanted by the International Criminal Court, whose prosecutors claim the Israeli politician is responsible for war crimes in Gaza.

"The UK will always comply with its legal obligations as set out by domestic law and indeed international law," said Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesman.

Asked whether Netanyahu would be arrested should he set foot in the UK, the spokesman said the British government is "not going to get into hypotheticals."

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he would invite Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu to visit the country, thus defyingthe arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Orban called the ICC's decision to issue warrants against Netanyahu, as well as former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, "outrageously brazen" and "cynical."

"There is no choice here, we have to defy this decision," the nationalist leader said in an interview with state radio. 

Netanyahu later thanked Orban, saying "faced with the shameful weakness of those who stood by the outrageous decision against the right of the State of Israel to defend itself, Hungary" is "standing by the side of justice and truth."

Hungary previously said it would not arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin either, who is also wanted by the ICC.

Hungary is a member of the ICC and is obliged to act on an arrest warrant if someone wanted by the court sets foot on their territory.

Germany said it "took note" of the arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said while Germany is one of the International Criminal Court's biggest supporters, it is also committed to its relationship with Israel, both as a result of the country's history.

He said Berlin will not take further steps until the two Israeli leaders plan a visit to Germany.

Earlier, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbocktold public broadcaster ARD, "we are now, of course, examining exactly what that means for implementation in Germany."

Germany is "bound by" the court as a country which recognizes the body and respects international law, she added.

China urged the International Criminal Court to remain objective and fair after it issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

A Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the country "hopes the ICC will uphold an objective and just position," as well as "exercising its powers in accordance with the law."

The spokesperson also accused the United States of "double standards" for its opposition to the court's pursuit of Netanyahu, but its support for a warrant against Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

"China consistently opposes certain countries only using international law when it suits them ... and engaging in double standards," he said.

The war raged between Israel and Hezbollah despite signs of progress in the cease-fire talks led by the United States.

Israeli airstrikes hit southern suburbs of Beirut about a dozen times, with the Israeli military saying the strikes were against Hezbollah infrastructure.

In eastern Lebanon, Israeli strikes killed 22 people in five locations, and three more in the south, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. 

In Israel, a 30-year-old man was killed when shrapnel from a rocket struck a playground in the northern town of Nahariya, Israel's MDA medical service said.

US mediator Amos Hochstein recently declared a ceasefire is "within our grasp," but gaps still remain between the two sides.