Live: 54 Palestinians killed, 831 wounded in 24 hours

Luis Moreno Ocampo was the International Criminal Court's founding chief prosecutor.

He was in the role from 2003 until 2012 and initiated several major investigations.

Now the Argentinian lawyer is urging the world to defend the ICC against intense international pressure.

ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan "knew the UK and US were threatening him if he prosecuted Netanyahu", Moreno Ocampo said on Thursday in an exclusive interview with Middle East Eye.

Khan, the prosecutor who successfully sought arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant in May last year, was sanctioned by the Trump administration in February this year for seeking to investigate US and Israeli nationals. 

The UK did not publicly threaten Khan, but MEE has revealed that last April, David Cameron, then the British foreign secretary, threatened in a phone call with Khan that the UK would defund and withdraw from the ICC if the court issued arrest warrants for Israeli leaders.

Cameron did not respond to multiple requests by MEE for comment.

"It would be interesting to interview Mr Cameron," Moreno Ocampo said.

Read more: Founding chief prosecutor on threats against ICC

Syria’s interior ministry denied on Wednesday reports that it was preparing governmental forces to re-enter the southern province of Sweida.

There has recently been renewed fighting in the area between tribal groups and Druze. 

“We confirm that no official statement has been issued in this regard, and we categorically deny the veracity of what was published,” said spokesperson Noureddine al-Baba, Sana news agency reported.

He said that government forces are in a normal state of readiness, and that there had been no deployment to Sweida so far.

The number of Palestinians killed in the Gaza Strip since dawn this morning has already reached 26. 

The figure includes six people who were seeking aid, and another five who were killed in an air strike that targeted a tent sheltering displaced people in the south of the besieged enclave.

A tribal leader in Syria issued a call on Friday for other Bedouin tribes in all Syrian provinces to join the fight in Sweida against Druze fighters.

Abdul Moneim al-Naseef, a tribal leader, was seen in footage issuing a call for support as he was surrounded by armed tribesmen.

“To repel harm from our people, and in response to God’s command, we direct a call to the tribes in all Syrian provinces to head immediately to Suwayda to save our people from massacres and ethnic cleansing,” he said.

At least four more people were killed in an Israeli air strike in the Jabalia al-Nazla neighbourhood in northern Gaza.

Earlier, we reported that the death toll of those killed in Gaza since Friday dawn has climbed to ten, including five killed in an air strike that targeted a tent sheltering the displaced in the south.

The Syrian interior ministry spokesperson has said that security forces are preparing to re-enter the southern city of Sweida in response to fighting between Druze and Bedouin tribes.

In the early hours of Friday, clashes were reported between tribal forces and armed groups.

On Wednesday, the US called upon Syria to pull out from the southern border area to de-escalate tensions with Israel.

Israeli air strikes on several places in Gaza killed at least 10 Palestinians since the early hours of Friday, Al Jazeera said.

At least five  of them, including women, were killed in an air strike that targeted a tent sheltering the displaced in the southern Strip, the Nasser Medical Complex told Al Jazeera.

Monsignor Pascal Gollnisch, the head of Catholic charity l’Oeuvre d’Orient, said Israel’s deadly attack on Gaza’s Catholic church is “totally unacceptable”.

“It is a place of worship. It is a Catholic church known for its peaceful attitude, for being a peacemaker. These are people who are at the service of the population,” Gollnisch told the AFP news agency.

“There were families, there were civilians,” he said.

At least three people were killed on Thursday in an Israeli air strike on the Strip’s only catholic church.

Good morning Middle East Eye readers, 

Here are some of the latest updates from Israel's war on Gaza: 

An Israeli air strike that targeted tents sheltering displaced Palestinians killed on Friday morning five people, including three women and a child, in southern Gaza, according to Al Jazeera.

A Palestinian man was arrested by Israeli forces after raiding the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, in the late hours of Thursday, according to the Quds News Network.

In Syria, local sources told Al Jazeera on Friday morning that tribal forces are stationed around the southern city of Sweida, and are engaging in clashes with armed groups.

The Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani made a phone call with Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa affirming his support for Syria's unity and territorial integrity, and condemned the Israeli attacks on several parts of Syria.

The White House said the US did not support the Israeli strikes in Syria and called on the Syrian government to lead the path forward.

At least 56 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks on Thursday, including several aid seekers, Al Jazeera reported. 

Israeli settlers have commandeered land belonging to Palestinians from the village of Sinjil by putting mobile homes on it, Wafa news agency reported on Thursday.

The village is where American citizen Sayfollah Musallet was beaten to death by Israeli settlers less than a week ago after he tried to defend his family's land from settler attacks.

Despite international condemnation after they killed the 20-year-old Palestinian-American, the settlers have continued to stake their claim in a strip of land north of the village without pushback from police or the government, to expand the illegal settlement Givat Haroeh.

The website of One Israel Fund describes the expansion plans of the Givat Haroeh, which anticipates 100 families living in the settlement this year. The illegal settlement was founded in 2003 and the website says, "settlers of this community are steadfast in their commitment to the land of Israel".

Musallet, a 20-year-old from Tampa, was killed by settlers, who along with the Israeli military prevented an ambulance coming to his rescue for three hours. His friend was also assaulted and shot by the same group.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond said that he and his team's vehicle was attacked by settlers while they were reporting on the story.

French President Emmanuel Macron said that Israel’s war on Gaza was “unjustifiable” and he “strongly condemns" the Israeli airstrike on a church in Gaza, he said in a post on X on Thursday.

“Our thoughts are with the victims, their families, and all Christians who, like all Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the hostages, are living through hell”.

He said he had told Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem that France is in “solidarity with all Christians in Palestine, who, from Gaza to Taybeh, are now under threat”.

“Every day, dozens of Palestinian civilians are killed in Gaza: the continuation of this war is unjustifiable,” Macron went on to say.

“It is unjustifiable and shameful that humanitarian aid is not being delivered on a massive scale, in violation of all international principles of humanitarian action”.

He also called for a ceasefire to be finalized, and civilians and hostages freed from the threat of permanent war.

Earlier on Thursday, Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot described the bombing of the Catholic Church of the Holy Family in Gaza as "unacceptable".

The church – along with all Catholic religious communities in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza - are under the historical protection of France, based on an agreement between the Ottoman Empire and France dating back to the early 20th century.

Three people were killed in the attack, and 10 people were injured.

CAIR-New Jersey on Thursday applauded a federal appeals court after it stopped the deportation of an imam who was born in Palestine and has been in the US for nearly 30 years.

Mohammed Qatanani is an imam in New Jersey who has been fighting a legal battle for exercising his First Amendment rights.

In a statement, the civil rights organisation said: "This victory secures Imam Mohammed Qatanani’s stability for himself, his family, and the communities he has served for decades. It also reinforces a fundamental principle: federal agencies must operate within the boundaries our laws establish.

“No one agency should have the right to upend people’s lives. This ruling sends a powerful message that our legal system will protect religious leaders and immigrant families from overreach.”

In a 2-1 ruling on Tuesday, the US 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals said that the Board of Immigration Appeals had "exceeded its authority when it attempted to undo Qatanani’s adjustment to Legal Permanent Resident status".

At  growing number of British Members of Parliament (MPs) have demanded the British government impose sanctions on Israel on Thursday.

Around 84 MPs are demanding the government stop supplying Israel with arms, suspend the UK-Israel trade agreement and ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, Al Jazeera reported.

The move follows a letter sent to Foreign Secretary David Lammy last on Thursday by 60 MPs originally asking for the government to recognise Palestine as a state to prevent ethnic cleansing.

There are 650 elected MPs in the House of Commons.

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, has questioned Israel's official narrative that it "never targets" religious sites and the Holy Family church in Gaza was hit by "stray ammunition" on Thursday morning.

The Cardinal told Vatican News that: "What we know for sure is that a tank, the IDF says by mistake, but we are not sure about this, they hit the Church directly".

He named the three people who died after Israel struck a church in Gaza, as Najwa Abu Daoud, Saad Issa Kostandi Salameh and Foumia Issa Latif Ayyad on Thursday. 

Ayyad, an 84-year-old woman, was receiving psychological support at the church, The Guardian reported. 

At least 600 people were sheltering at the church, mostly children and 54 with special needs, the AFP reported.

The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem has jurisdiction over Catholics in Israel, the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, and Cyprus. 

After pressure from Washington and in a rare admission, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strike was a mistake: “Israel deeply regrets that stray ammunition hit Gaza’s Holy Family Church and that the incident was being investigated".