Live: Thousands return home as Lebanon ceasefire takes hold

The Palestinian civil defence in Gaza reported on Thursday that 15 children and women were hospitalized after being poisoned by canned food allegedly left by Israeli forces.  

In a video released by the agency, spokesman Mahmoud Basal said that the food was found in the Shujaiya neighbourhood, an area in the northern Gaza Strip affected by severe hunger, during an earlier incursion by Israeli troops.

“We urge citizens to exercise caution when encountering such canned goods, especially dairy products. Refrain from consuming them, as the Israeli occupation forces intentionally leave these spoiled items to harm those who consume them,” Basal warned on his Telegram channel.

Republican Senator Tom Cotton has lashed out at the International Criminal Court (ICC), citing a US law that permits the president to use "all means necessary and appropriate" to free Americans or allies detained by the court.  

Passed in 2002, the American Service-Members' Protection Act, often referred to as the "Hague Invasion Act," was designed to shield US personnel from ICC jurisdiction. Rights groups argue the law aims to intimidate nations that support the ICC treaty. It authorises military action to rescue any American or allied citizen held by the court in The Hague.  

Cotton condemned the ICC in a social media post, calling it a "kangaroo court" and labelling its chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, a "deranged fanatic". 

“Woe to him and anyone who tries to enforce these outlaw warrants. Let me give them all a friendly reminder: the American law on the ICC is known as The Hague Invasion Act for a reason. Think about it,” Cotton warned.  

Israeli attacks have claimed the lives of at least 3,583 people and injured 15,244 in Lebanon since October 2023, the Lebanese health ministry reported on Thursday.

Among the casualties, 25 deaths were recorded on Wednesday.

Israeli air strikes on Lebanon's Baalbek-Hermel governorate killed at least 47 people and injured 22 on Thursday, according to Governor Bachir Khodr.

In a post on X, Khodr noted that rescue operations were ongoing.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the recent Israeli air strikes on Palmyra were the most intense by Israeli forces in Syria to date, with the death toll reaching 79.  

Among the fatalities, 53 were Syrian militias, including eight officers. Four were allegedly affiliated with Lebanon's Hezbollah, while 22 were non-Syrians, predominantly linked to the "Al-Nujaba movement" .

The attack also injured 34 individuals, including seven civilians, according to the Observatory.

US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has praised the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) decision to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, calling it a “historic” step toward accountability.  

“The International Criminal Court’s long overdue decision to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity signals that the days of the Israeli apartheid government operating with impunity are ending,” Tlaib said in a statement.  

She criticised the Biden administration for its continued support of Israel, stating, “Since this genocide began, the United States has provided more than $18 billion in weapons to the Israeli government. The Biden Administration can no longer deny that those same US weapons have been used in countless war crimes.”  

Tlaib urged the US to immediately suspend arms transfers to Israel, in what she described as the “Israeli apartheid regime.” While acknowledging that the arrest warrants cannot undo the loss and displacement already caused, she said they are a “major step towards holding war criminals accountable”. 

Israeli air strikes in Lebanon's Baalbek district have killed at least 10 people, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.  

Six people were killed in an air strike on the town of Maqne, while another four died, and three were injured in a raid on Flawiye, also in Baalbek.  

In Beirut’s southern suburbs, the Haret Hreik area endured at least 12 air strikes today, the National News Agency reported.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau affirmed that Canada would comply with all rulings issued by international courts, including arrest warrants from the ICC targeting senior Israeli officials.  

“It’s really important that everyone abide by international law,” Trudeau said during a televised news conference.  

“We stand up for international law, and we will abide by all the regulations and rulings of the international courts,” he added.  

A quick glance at US President-elect Donald Trump’s appointees overseeing Middle East policy suggests that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government will soon have close ideological allies in the White House. 

From Marco Rubio as secretary of state to Fox News anchor Pete Hegseth as defence secretary, to Mike Huckabee as ambassador to Israel, and Steve Witkoff as Middle East envoy, the nominations are telling. Each has previously wedded himself not just to Israel but also to the extremist narratives of religious Zionism represented in the country’s current government. 

But while Rubio and Huckabee, in particular, have been pushing these narratives on the campaign trail for political reasons, all of them will now face a reality check when it comes to formulating and delivering a coherent Middle East policy. 

For one, their unequivocal support for Israel’s unhinged government policy of military annihilation of the idea of resistance will cause friction with Trump’s overarching objective to end all wars in the region. 

Netanyahu has proven time and again over the past 13 months that he favours protracted military operations without clear strategic objectives over taking diplomatic off-ramps to end hostilities - especially in the war on Gaza, where military objectives have been exhausted, billions of US taxpayer dollars have been wasted to keep Netanyahu in power, hostages have not come home, and tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians have been killed.

Read more: Trump's pro-Israel ideologues face reality check in dealing with Gulf states

The US has issued a statement rejecting the ICC's issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

“The United States fundamentally rejects the court’s decision to issue arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials,” a White House National Security Council spokesperson said.

“We remain deeply concerned by the prosecutor’s rush to seek arrest warrants and the troubling process errors that led to this decision.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is "now officially a wanted man", Amnesty International declared, following the International Criminal Court's decision to issue arrest warrants for the Israeli leader and his former defence minister.  

“Prime Minister Netanyahu is now officially a wanted man,” said Amnesty's secretary general, Agnes Callamard.  

She urged ICC member states and the global community to ensure that "these individuals are brought to trial before the ICC’s independent and impartial judges".

“The ICC arrest warrants against senior Israeli leaders and a Hamas official break through the perception that certain individuals are beyond the reach of the law,” said Balkees Jarrah, associate international justice director at Human Rights Watch.

“This is all the more important, given the brazen attempts to obstruct the course of justice at the court. Whether the ICC can effectively deliver on its mandate will depend on governments’ willingness to support justice no matter where abuses are committed and by whom,” added Jarrah.

 The EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has said that all EU countries are obligated to uphold the ICC's issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

"These decisions are binding on all States party to the Rome Statute, which includes all EU Member States," he said in a post on X.

I take note of the decision of the @IntlCrimCourt to issue arrest warrants for Israel PM Netanyahu, former Minister Gallant, and Hamas leader Deif.

These decisions are binding on all States party to the Rome Statute, which includes all EU Member States.

— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) November 21, 2024

US-based rights group DAWN has warned that, in light of the ICC's issuance of arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, US officials could be personally liable under international law by continuing to provide Israel with military assistance.

“Article 25(3)(c) of the Rome Statute outlines clear criminal liability for aiding and abetting war crimes, which applies to individuals in non-member states like the US when their actions enable violations under ICC jurisdiction," Raed Jarrar, DAWN’s advocacy director, said in a statement.

While the US is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC, Palestine is. This means that the US role in Israeli war crimes committed in Palestine could make US officials open to ICC prosecution, according to rights advocates.

Legal experts and commentators have told Middle East Eye that there would be an obligation to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu if he set foot on British soil, after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister and for former defence minister Yoav Gallant.

The UK is a member state of the ICC, but Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour government has yet to comment on the court's decision.

In July, Britain dropped its objection to an arrest warrant being issued, which was filed by the previous Conservative government. 

The Labour government said "this is a matter for the court to decide on". Now the court has decided.

Netanyahu and Gallant are accused of a range of war crimes and crimes against humanity over atrocities committed since 7 October last year. The court has also issued a warrant for Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif. 

READ MORE: UK legally obliged to arrest Netanyahu on British soil, experts say

At least three people have been killed in an Israeli attack on the town of al-Shaitiyah, near the south’s major city of Tyre, Lebanon's Health Ministry is reporting.

Israeli strikes have pounded the area throughout the day.