Hezbollah leader’s body found in rubble following airstrike
Lebanon urges international community to act to halt further escalation
Updated 01 August 2024
NAJIA HOUSSARI
BEIRUT: Hezbollah civil defense teams on Wednesday found the body of senior commander Fouad Shukr, who was killed in an Israeli drone strike the previous night in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
The militant group had confirmed Shukr’s presence in the targeted building earlier in the day after a blackout that lasted throughout Tuesday night.
Conflicting reports emerged regarding the fate of the prominent Hezbollah leader. Security information shared at the site of the attack suggested that Shukr was the main target of the airstrike.
Diplomatic communications with Lebanon intensified in the wake of Shukr’s death. Political observers linked the scale of the response to the attack with the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas political bureau chief, in Tehran early on Wednesday.
Relief and civil defense teams continued to remove debris from the upper floors of the Beirut residential building, which partially collapsed after it was struck by three missiles fired by the Israeli combat drone.
Journalists and photographers were not allowed near the site, which was cordoned off by Hezbollah members. Debris was cleared from the surrounding streets, and roads were reopened.
At least four other people are though to have died in the attack: Wasila Baydoun from the southern town of Chehabiyeh; and Hanan Hakim and her two children, Sarah, 6, and Hassan Fadlallah,10, from the southern town of Aainata.
Most of those injured in the blast were discharged from hospital after receiving treatment, with a few remaining under medical care.
In its morning statement, Hezbollah said that “civil defense teams have been diligently working to remove the debris since the incident occurred, but progress is slow due to the condition of the destroyed floors. We are still awaiting the outcome of this operation concerning the fate of the esteemed leader and other citizens at this location, so that the necessary action can be taken.”
The Israeli attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs was widely condemned by Lebanese politicians and parties, with demands for “urgent international, regional, and UN action to stop the Israeli killing machine.”
A ministerial delegation visited the site after an extraordinary Cabinet session chaired by Najib Mikati, the caretaker prime minister, who strongly condemned the attack, warning that “matters will escalate for the worse if the enemy continues with its recklessness and murderous, criminal insanity, and if the concerned countries and the international community do not quickly intervene to curb this dangerous escalation.”
Mikati also condemned the killing of Haniyeh, describing it as a “serious threat that could expand the circle of global concern in the region.”
Ziad Makary, the caretaker information minister, said that the Lebanese Cabinet “remains in open session to monitor any developments.”
He added that the prime minister’s office is making “vigorous diplomatic efforts aimed at promoting peace transparently and unequivocally.”
Makary added: “It is natural for everyone to fear the possibility of war.”
Separately, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix; UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert; and the UNIFIL Commander, Gen. Aroldo Lazaro, discussed with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib “ways to contain the escalation to prevent the expansion of the war.”
Meanwhile, the attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs sparked concern and confusion among travelers at Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport.
Travel and tourism companies said that many scheduled trips to Lebanon next week had been canceled.
The head of the Association of Travel and Tourism Agents, Jean Abboud, said that a week ago Lebanon was receiving around 14,000 passenger arrivals daily, with at least 85 flights per day. However, yesterday the number of passenger arrivals dropped to 9,500.
Can Lebanon’s ancient cultural heritage be protected from war damage?
Countless historical landmarks face existential threat amid escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah
Preserving heritage fosters resilience, identity, and post-conflict recovery, say UNESCO and heritage advocates
Updated 15 sec ago
Robert Edwards
LONDON: Towering above the fertile Bekaa Valley, the Temple of Jupiter and Temple of Bacchus in Baalbek stand as monumental symbols of Roman power, while the ruins of Tyre echo the splendor of the Phoenician civilization.
Today, these UNESCO World Heritage sites, along with countless other historical landmarks, face a grave threat as the conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters encroaches on Lebanon’s unique and ancient heritage.
After nearly a year of cross-border exchanges that began on Oct. 8, 2023, Israel suddenly escalated its campaign of airstrikes against Hezbollah targets across Lebanon.
Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike that targeted the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbeck on November 3, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
In recent weeks, Baalbek’s famed Roman temples, celebrated for their architectural sophistication and cultural fusion of East and West, have come dangerously close to being hit.
Although these structures have so far been spared direct strikes, adjacent areas have suffered, including a nearby Ottoman-era building. The city’s ruins, which have survived the test of time and the 1975-1990 Lebanese civil war, are now at significant risk.
The ancient city has suffered multiple airstrikes since evacuation orders were issued on Oct. 30 by Israel, which has designated the area a Hezbollah stronghold.
FASTFACT
ALIPH has allocated $100,000 to shelter museum collections and support displaced heritage workers in Lebanon.
The proximity of these airstrikes has left archaeologists and local authorities fearing that damage, whether intentional or collateral, could be irreversible. Even indirect blasts pose a serious risk, as reverberations shake these ancient stones.
United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert (L) and Director of the UNESCO Office in Beirut Costanza Farina (C) visit the Roman citadel of Baalbeck, in the Bekaa valley, on November 21, 2024. (AFP)
“The threats come from direct bombing and indirect bombing,” Joanne Farchakh Bajjaly, a Lebanese archaeologist and founder of the non-governmental organization Biladi, told Arab News. “In both ways, cultural heritage is at huge risk.”
Reports indicate that hundreds of other Lebanese cultural and religious sites have been less fortunate. Several Muslim and Christian heritage buildings have been reduced to rubble in southern towns and villages under shelling and air attacks.
“Some of them are known and already registered in the inventory list and some of them unfortunately we know about them when they are destroyed and inhabitants share the photos of them,” said Farchakh Bajjaly.
The six columns of the Temple of Jupiter at the Roman citadel of Baalbeck, in the Lebanese Bekaa valley, on November 21, 2024. (AFP)
Many of these sites carry irreplaceable historical value, representing not only Lebanon’s heritage but also that of the broader Mediterranean and Near Eastern regions.
Baalbek’s origins stretch back to a Phoenician settlement dedicated to Baal, the god of fertility. Later known as Heliopolis under Hellenistic influence, the city reached its zenith under the Roman Empire.
The Temple of Jupiter, once adorned by 54 massive Corinthian columns, and the intricately decorated Temple of Bacchus, have attracted pilgrims and admirers across millennia.
Cultural heritage is a key reason people visit Lebanon. The cultural heritage of Lebanon is the cultural heritage of all humanity.
Valery Freland, ALIPH executive director
Tyre, equally revered, was a bustling Phoenician port where the rare purple dye from Murex sea snails was once crafted for royalty. The city is home to ancient necropolises and a Roman hippodrome, all of which have helped shape Lebanon’s historical identity.
Valery Freland, ALIPH executive director
Israel’s war against Hezbollah, once the most powerful non-state group in the Middle East, has thus far killed more than 3,200 people and displaced about a million more in Lebanon, according to local officials.
The Israeli military has pledged to end Hezbollah’s ability to launch rocket and other attacks into northern Israel, which has forced around 60,000 people to flee their homes near the Lebanon border.
On Oct. 23, the Israeli military issued evacuation orders near Tyre’s ancient ruins, and began striking targets in the vicinity.
Children displaced by conflict from south Lebanon play in the courtyard of the Azariyeh building complex where they are sheltering in central Beirut on October 15, 2024. (AFP)
The cultural devastation in southern Lebanon and Bekaa is not limited to UNESCO sites. Across these regions, many cultural heritage sites of local and national significance have been reduced to rubble.
“Cultural heritage sites that are located in the south or in the Bekaa and that are scattered all over the place … were razed and wiped out,” said Farchakh Bajjaly.
“When you can see the demolition of the villages in the south of Lebanon … the destruction of the cultural heritage is coming as collateral damage. The historical sites, the shrines or the castles, aren’t being spared at all.”
Tebnin/Toron castle in southern Lebanon (Shutterstock)
As a signatory to the 1954 Hague Convention, Lebanon’s heritage should, in theory, be protected from harm during armed conflict. However, as Culture Minister Mohammad Mortada has appealed to UNESCO, these symbolic protections, like the Blue Shield emblem, have shown limited effectiveness.
In response to the escalation, the Geneva-based International Alliance for the Protection of Cultural Heritage in Conflict Areas, known as ALIPH, has provided emergency funding to Lebanon, working alongside Biladi and the Directorate General of Antiquities.
With $100,000 in initial funding, ALIPH is sheltering museum collections across Lebanon and providing safe accommodation for displaced heritage professionals.
Joanne Farchakh Bajjaly, a Lebanese archaeologist and founder of the non-governmental organization Biladi.
“We are ready to stand by our partners in Lebanon, just as we did after the 2020 Beirut explosion,” Valery Freland, ALIPH’s executive director, told Arab News.
“Our mission is to work in crisis areas… If we protect the cultural heritage now, it will be a way (to stop this becoming) another difficulty of the peacebuilding process.”
Documentation has also become a critical tool for preservation efforts, particularly for sites at risk of destruction. Biladi’s role has been to document what remains and, where possible, secure smaller objects.
A man checks the destruction at a factory targeted in an overnight Israeli airstrike in the town of Chouaifet south of Beirut on September 28, 2024. (AFP)
“Unfortunately we are not able to do any kind of preventive measures for the monuments for several reasons,” said Farchakh Bajjaly.
“One of the most obvious ones is due to the weapons that are being used. If the hit is a direct hit then there’s no purpose of taking any action. Nothing is surviving a direct hit.
“The only measures that we can do, as preventative measures … (are) to secure the storage of museums and to find ways to save the small items and shelter them from any vibrations and make sure storages are safe and secure.”
Map of Lebanon showing the number of people who have fled their homes by district as of October 13, according to the International Organization for Migration. (AFP)
Farchakh Bajjaly describes a “dilemma of horror” arising from the conflict. When the IDF issued its evacuation order for Baalbek, around 80,000 residents fled, with some seeking refuge within the temples themselves.
“The guards closed the gates and didn’t let anyone get in,” she said, explaining that, under the 1954 Hague Convention, using protected sites as shelters nullifies their protected status. “If people will take refuge in the temples, then it might be used by the Israeli army to target temples. Thereby killing the people and destroying the temples.”
The displacement of Baalbek’s residents has added to Lebanon’s swelling humanitarian crisis. With more than 1.2 million people displaced across the country due to the conflict, the city’s evacuation order has compounded local instability.
Historic ancient Roman Bacchus temple in Baalbek, Lebanon. (Shutterstock)
Despite the harrowing reality, Farchakh Bajjaly insists that preserving cultural heritage is not at odds with humanitarian goals. “Asking to save world heritage is in no way contradictory to saving people’s lives. They are complementary,” she said.
“It’s giving people a place to find their memories, giving them a sense of continuity when in war, usually, nothing remains the same.”
UNESCO has been actively monitoring the conflict’s impact on Lebanon’s heritage sites, using satellite imagery and remote sensing to assess visible damage.
Arch of Hadrian at the Al-Bass Tyre necropolis. UNESCO world heritage in Lebanon. (Shutterstock)
“UNESCO liaised with all state parties concerned, reminding (them of their) obligations under the 1972 Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage,” Nisrine Kammourieh, a spokesperson for UNESCO, told Arab News.
The organization is preparing for an emergency session of the Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property to potentially place Lebanon’s heritage sites on its International List of Cultural Property under Enhanced Protection.
The importance of cultural preservation extends beyond mere aesthetics or academic interest. “It’s part of the resilience of the population, of the communities and it’s part of a solution afterward,” said ALIPH’s Freland.
Elke Selter, ALIPH’s director of programs, believes “protecting heritage is essential for what comes after. You cannot totally erase the traces of the past.”
Indeed, the preservation of Lebanon’s cultural heritage is as much about safeguarding identity and memory as it is about recovery.
“Imagine that your town is fully destroyed and you have to go back to something that was built two weeks ago; that is very unsettling in a way,” Selter told Arab News, noting that studies have shown how preserving familiar landmarks fosters a sense of belonging after displacement.
In the broader context of Lebanon’s recovery, cultural heritage can play a key role in economic revitalization, particularly through tourism.
“For Lebanon’s economy, that’s an important element and I think an important one for the recovery of the country afterwards,” said Selter. “Cultural heritage in Lebanon was one of the key reasons why people would visit Lebanon.”
The tragedy facing Lebanon’s heritage is also a global concern. “The cultural heritage of Lebanon is the cultural heritage of all humanity,” said Freland.
For Biladi and other heritage organizations, Lebanon’s current crisis offers a test of international conventions that aim to protect heritage in times of conflict.
“If the conventions are being applied, then cultural heritage will be saved,” said Farchakh Bajjaly. “Lebanon has become in this war a sort of a field where it’s possible to test if these conventions work.”
Axios said Israel and Lebanon had agreed to the terms of a deal
Israel’s security cabinet was expected to approve deal on Tuesday
Updated 25 November 2024
Reuters
JERUSALEM/BEIRUT: Israel is moving toward a ceasefire in the war with Hezbollah but there are still issues to address, its government said on Monday, while two senior Lebanese officials voiced guarded optimism of a deal soon even as Israeli strikes pounded Lebanon.
Axios, citing an unnamed senior US official, said Israel and Lebanon had agreed to the terms of a deal, and that Israel’s security cabinet was expected to approve the deal on Tuesday.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said of a ceasefire: “We haven’t finalized it yet, but we are moving forward.” Asked for comment, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said it had nothing to say about the report.
Hostilities have intensified in parallel with the diplomatic flurry: Over the weekend, Israel carried out powerful airstrikes, one of which killed at least 29 people in central Beirut — while the Iran-backed Hezbollah unleashed one of its biggest rocket salvoes yet on Sunday, firing 250 missiles.
In Beirut, Israeli airstrikes levelled more of the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs on Monday, sending clouds of debris billowing over the Lebanese capital.
Efforts to clinch a truce appeared to advance last week when US mediator Amos Hochstein declared significant progress after talks in Beirut before holding meetings in Israel and then returning to Washington.
“We are moving in the direction toward a deal, but there are still some issues to address,” Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer said, without elaborating.
Michael Herzog, the Israeli ambassador in Washington, told Israel’s GLZ radio an agreement was close and “it could happen within days ... We just need to close the last corners,” according to a post on X by GLZ senior anchorman Efi Triger.
In Beirut, Deputy Parliament Speaker Elias Bou Saab said a decisive moment was approaching and expressed cautious optimism. “The balance is slightly tilted toward there being (an agreement), but by a very small degree, because a person like Netanyahu cannot be trusted,” he said in a news conference.
A second senior Lebanese official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Beirut had not received any new Israeli demands from US mediators, who were describing the atmosphere as positive and saying “things are in progress.”
The official told Reuters a ceasefire could be clinched this week.
The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah spiralled into full-scale war in September when Israel went on the offensive, pounding wide areas of Lebanon with airstrikes and sending troops into the south.
Israel has dealt major blows to Hezbollah, killing its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and other top commanders and inflicting massive destruction in areas of Lebanon where the group holds sway.
Diplomacy has focused on restoring a ceasefire based on UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended a 2006 Hezbollah-Israel war. It requires Hezbollah to pull its fighters back around 30 km (19 miles) from the Israeli border.
ENFORCEMENT
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the test for any agreement would be in the enforcement of two main points.
“The first is preventing Hezbollah from moving southward beyond the Litani (River), and the second, preventing Hezbollah from rebuilding its force and rearming in all of Lebanon,” Saar said in broadcast remarks to the Israeli parliament.
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said Israel must press on with the war until “absolute victory.” Addressing Netanyahu on X, he said “it is not too late to stop this agreement!“
But Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter said Israel should reach an agreement in Lebanon. “If we say ‘no’ to Hezbollah being south of the Litani, we mean it,” he told journalists.
Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said last week that the group had reviewed and given feedback on the US ceasefire proposal, and any truce was now in Israel’s hands.
Branded a terrorist group by the United States, the heavily armed, Shiite Muslim Hezbollah has endorsed Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri of the Shiite Amal movement to negotiate.
Israel says its aim is to secure the return home of tens of thousands of people evacuated from its north due to rocket attacks by Hezbollah, which opened fire in support of Hamas at the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.
Israel’s offensive has forced more than 1 million people from their homes in Lebanon.
Diplomacy has focused on restoring a ceasefire based on UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended a 2006 Hezbollah-Israel war. It requires Hezbollah to pull its fighters back around 30 km (19 miles) from the Israeli border, and the regular Lebanese army to deploy into the frontier region.
Egypt says 17 missing after Red Sea tourist boat capsizes
Governor Amr Hanafi said that some survivors were rescued by an aircraft, while others were transported to safety aboard a warship
Updated 25 November 2024
AFP
CAIRO: Egyptian authorities said 17 people including British nationals and other foreigners were missing after a tourist yacht capsized off the country’s Red Sea coast on Monday, with 28 others rescued.
The vessel, which was carrying 31 tourists of various nationalities and a 14-member crew, sent out a distress call at 5:30 am (0330 GMT), said a statement from Egypt’s Red Sea governorate.
An AFP tally confirmed that tourists involved in the incident include nationals from the UK, China, Finland, Poland and Spain.
The “Sea Story” embarked on Sunday on a multi-day diving trip from Port Ghalib near Marsa Alam in the southeast, and had been due to dock on Friday at the town of Hurghada, 200 kilometers (124 miles) north.
Governor Amr Hanafi said that some survivors were rescued by an aircraft, while others were transported to safety aboard a warship.
“Intensive search operations are underway in coordination with the navy and the armed forces,” Hanafi added in a statement.
Authorities have not confirmed the nationalities of the tourists.
Beijing’s embassy in Egypt said two of its nationals were “in good health” after being “rescued in the cruise ship sinking accident in the Red Sea,” Chinese state media reported.
The Finnish foreign ministry confirmed to AFP that one of its nationals is missing.
Polish foreign ministry spokesman Pawel Wronski said authorities “have information that two of the tourists may have had Polish citizenship.”
“That’s all we know about them. That’s all we can say for now,” he told national news agency PAP.The Red Sea governor’s office did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment about the possible cause of the accident.
According to a manager of a diving resort close to the rescue operation, one surviving crew member said they were “hit by a wave in the middle of the night, throwing the vessel on its side.”
Authorities in the Red Sea capital of Hurghada on Sunday shut down marine activities and the city’s port due to “bad weather conditions.”
But winds around Marsa Alam had remained favorable until Sunday night, the diving manager told AFP, before calming again by morning.
By Monday afternoon, it became increasingly “unlikely that the 17 missing would be rescued after 12 hours in the water,” he said, requesting anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
The Marsa Alam area saw at least two similar boat accidents earlier this year but there were no fatalities.
The Red Sea coast is a major tourist destination in Egypt, a country of 105 million that is in the grip of a serious economic crisis. Nationally, the tourism sector employs two million people and generates more than 10 percent of GDP.
Dozens of dive boats criss-cross between coral reefs and islands off Egypt’s eastern coast every day, where safety regulations are robust but unevenly enforced.
Earlier this month, 30 people were rescued from a sinking dive boat near the Red Sea’s Daedalus reef.
In June, two dozen French tourists were evacuated safely before their boat sank in a similar accident.
Last year, three British tourists died when a fire broke out on their yacht, engulfing it in flames.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said of a ceasefire: “We haven’t finalized it yet, but we are moving forward”
Updated 25 November 2024
Reuters
JERUSALEM/BEIRUT: Israel is moving toward a ceasefire in the war with Hezbollah but there are still issues to address, its government said on Monday, while two senior Lebanese officials voiced guarded optimism of a deal soon even as Israeli strikes pounded Lebanon.
Axios, citing an unnamed senior US official, said Israel and Lebanon had agreed to the terms of a deal, and that Israel’s security cabinet was expected to approve the deal on Tuesday.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said of a ceasefire: “We haven’t finalized it yet, but we are moving forward.” Asked for comment, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said it had nothing to say about the report.
Hostilities have intensified in parallel with the diplomatic flurry: Over the weekend, Israel carried out powerful airstrikes, one of which killed at least 29 people in central Beirut — while the Iran-backed Hezbollah unleashed one of its biggest rocket salvoes yet on Sunday, firing 250 missiles.
In Beirut, Israeli airstrikes levelled more of the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs on Monday, sending clouds of debris billowing over the Lebanese capital.
Efforts to clinch a truce appeared to advance last week when US mediator Amos Hochstein declared significant progress after talks in Beirut before holding meetings in Israel and then returning to Washington.
“We are moving in the direction toward a deal, but there are still some issues to address,” Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer said, without elaborating.
Michael Herzog, the Israeli ambassador in Washington, told Israel’s GLZ radio an agreement was close and “it could happen within days ... We just need to close the last corners,” according to a post on X by GLZ senior anchorman Efi Triger.
In Beirut, Deputy Parliament Speaker Elias Bou Saab said a decisive moment was approaching and expressed cautious optimism. “The balance is slightly tilted toward there being (an agreement), but by a very small degree, because a person like Netanyahu cannot be trusted,” he said in a news conference.
A second senior Lebanese official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Beirut had not received any new Israeli demands from US mediators, who were describing the atmosphere as positive and saying “things are in progress.”
The official told Reuters a ceasefire could be clinched this week.
The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah spiralled into full-scale war in September when Israel went on the offensive, pounding wide areas of Lebanon with airstrikes and sending troops into the south.
Israel has dealt major blows to Hezbollah, killing its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and other top commanders and inflicting massive destruction in areas of Lebanon where the group holds sway.
Diplomacy has focused on restoring a ceasefire based on UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended a 2006 Hezbollah-Israel war. It requires Hezbollah to pull its fighters back around 30 km (19 miles) from the Israeli border.
ENFORCEMENT
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the test for any agreement would be in the enforcement of two main points.
“The first is preventing Hezbollah from moving southward beyond the Litani (River), and the second, preventing Hezbollah from rebuilding its force and rearming in all of Lebanon,” Saar said in broadcast remarks to the Israeli parliament.
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said Israel must press on with the war until “absolute victory.” Addressing Netanyahu on X, he said “it is not too late to stop this agreement!“
But Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter said Israel should reach an agreement in Lebanon. “If we say ‘no’ to Hezbollah being south of the Litani, we mean it,” he told journalists.
Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said last week that the group had reviewed and given feedback on the US ceasefire proposal, and any truce was now in Israel’s hands.
Branded a terrorist group by the United States, the heavily armed, Shiite Muslim Hezbollah has endorsed Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri of the Shiite Amal movement to negotiate.
Israel says its aim is to secure the return home of tens of thousands of people evacuated from its north due to rocket attacks by Hezbollah, which opened fire in support of Hamas at the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.
Israel’s offensive has forced more than 1 million people from their homes in Lebanon.
Diplomacy has focused on restoring a ceasefire based on UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended a 2006 Hezbollah-Israel war. It requires Hezbollah to pull its fighters back around 30 km (19 miles) from the Israeli border, and the regular Lebanese army to deploy into the frontier region.
Arrest Warrant: UK would follow ‘due process’ if Netanyahu were to visit – foreign minister
ICC issued arrest warrants on Thursday against Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu
Several EU states have said they will meet commitments under the statute if needed
Updated 25 November 2024
Reuters
FIUGGI: Britain would follow due process if Benjamin Netanyahu visited the UK, foreign minister David Lammy said on Monday, when asked if London would fulfil the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant against the Israeli prime minister.
“We are signatories to the Rome Statute, we have always been committed to our obligations under international law and international humanitarian law,” Lammy told reporters at a G7 meeting in Italy.
“Of course, if there were to be such a visit to the UK, there would be a court process and due process would be followed in relation to those issues.”
The ICC issued the warrants on Thursday against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Ibrahim Al-Masri for alleged crimes against humanity.
Several EU states have said they will meet their commitments under the statute if needed, but Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has invited Netanyahu to visit his country, assuring him he would face no risks if he did so.
“The states that signed the Rome convention must implement the court’s decision. It’s not optional,” Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, said during a visit to Cyprus for a workshop of Israeli and Palestinian peace activists.
Those same obligations were also binding on countries aspiring to join the EU, he said.
