As the International Criminal Court on Thursday issued arrest warrants for Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, Israeli leaders from across the political spectrum united to condemn the decision pronounced by a three-judge panel of the United Nations court.
The death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, one of the masterminds behind the group’s horrific 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel, is no doubt a consequential moment in Israel’s yearlong war against Hamas.
President Joe Biden held a "direct," 30-minute phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, their first conversation in almost two months and a chance to confer over Israel's planned response to an Iranian ballistic missile attack.
He also greeted the people of Israel and the Jewish community across the world on their new year.
Speaking at the beginning of a security assessment meeting at the Air Force Command Center in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, Netanyahu said the strikes were "shifting the balance of power" between Israel and Hezbollah.
Last week, the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, pushed through a law that restricts demonstrations as part of a coronavirus related state of emergency, which saw the country tightening lockdown measures over the weekend.
Saudi Arabia has said it will not establish diplomatic ties with Israel until the Jewish state has signed an internationally recognised peace accord with the Palestinians.
A US-brokered agreement between the Jewish state and Dubai to normalise ties was announced on August 13, making the UAE the first Gulf country and only the third Arab nation to establish relations with Israel, after Egypt and Jordan.
In May, Israel lifted a nationwide lockdown that had flattened an infection curve, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials celebrated as a success.
Protests have stretched beyond Netanyahu's official residence in Jerusalem, with many Israelis gathering on bridges and highway junctions across the country.
