Lebanon Moves Towards Accepting ICC Jurisdiction for War Crimes on its Soil

FILE PHOTO: An exterior view of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, March 31, 2021. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: An exterior view of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, March 31, 2021. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo
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Lebanon Moves Towards Accepting ICC Jurisdiction for War Crimes on its Soil

FILE PHOTO: An exterior view of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, March 31, 2021. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: An exterior view of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, March 31, 2021. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo

Lebanon has moved towards accepting the International Criminal Court's jurisdiction to prosecute violations on Lebanese territory since October, in what Human Rights Watch said on Saturday was a "landmark step" towards justice for war crimes.

Lebanon has accused Israel of repeatedly violating its sovereignty and committing breaches of international law over the last six months, during which the Israeli military and Hezbollah have traded fire across Lebanon's southern border in parallel with the Gaza War.

That cross-border shelling has killed at least 70 civilians, including children, rescue workers and journalists, among them Reuters visuals reporter Issam Abdallah, who was killed by an Israeli tank on Oct. 13, a Reuters investigation found.

Lebanon's caretaker cabinet voted on Friday to instruct the foreign affairs ministry to file a declaration with the ICC accepting the court's jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute crimes committed on Lebanese territory since Oct. 7.

The decree also instructed the foreign ministry to include in its complaints about Israel to the United Nations a report prepared by the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), an independent research institute.

That report looked specifically into Abdallah's killing, and was produced by examining shrapnel, flak jackets, a camera, tripod and a large piece of metal that were gathered by Reuters from the scene, as well as video and audio material.

Neither Lebanon nor Israel are members of the ICC, which is based in The Hague. But filing a declaration to the court would grant it jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute relevant crimes in a particular period.
Ukraine has twice filed such declarations, which allowed for the court to investigate alleged Russian war crimes.

"The Lebanese government has taken a landmark step toward securing justice for war crimes in the country," said Lama Fakih, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch, urging the foreign minister to "swiftly" formalize the move by filing a declaration to the ICC.

"This is an important reminder to those who flout their obligations under the laws of war that they may find themselves in the dock," Fakih said.



Gaza a ‘Mass Grave’ of Palestinians, Says MSF, as Israeli Strikes Kill 13 

People walk past a puddle of water by tent shelters erected near the rubble of a collapsed building in the Nasr neighborhood in western Gaza City on April 15, 2025. (AFP)
People walk past a puddle of water by tent shelters erected near the rubble of a collapsed building in the Nasr neighborhood in western Gaza City on April 15, 2025. (AFP)
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Gaza a ‘Mass Grave’ of Palestinians, Says MSF, as Israeli Strikes Kill 13 

People walk past a puddle of water by tent shelters erected near the rubble of a collapsed building in the Nasr neighborhood in western Gaza City on April 15, 2025. (AFP)
People walk past a puddle of water by tent shelters erected near the rubble of a collapsed building in the Nasr neighborhood in western Gaza City on April 15, 2025. (AFP)

Gaza has become a "mass grave" for Palestinians and those trying to help them, medical charity MSF said on Wednesday, as medics said the Israeli military killed at least 13 in the north of the enclave and continued to demolish homes in Rafah in the south.

Palestinian medics said an airstrike killed 10 people, including the well-known writer and photographer, Fatema Hassouna, whose work has captured the struggles faced by her community in Gaza City through the war. A strike on another house further north killed three, they said.

There was no comment from the Israeli military.

In Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, residents said the Israeli military demolished more homes in the city, which has all come under Israeli control in the past days in what Israeli leaders said was an expansion of security zones in Gaza to put more pressure on Hamas to release remaining hostages.

"Gaza has been turned into a mass grave of Palestinians and those coming to their assistance. We are witnessing in real time the destruction and forced displacement of the entire population in Gaza," Amande Bazerolle, Medecins Sans Frontieres' emergency coordinator in Gaza, said in a statement.

"With nowhere safe for Palestinians or those trying to help them, the humanitarian response is severely struggling under the weight of insecurity and critical supply shortages, leaving people with few, if any, options for accessing care."

Efforts by mediators Egypt, Qatar and the United States to restore the defunct ceasefire in Gaza and free Israeli hostages have faltered with Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas locked in their positions.

Hamas says it wants to move into the second phase of the January ceasefire agreement that would discuss Israel's pullout from Gaza and ending the war, which erupted when Hamas gunmen stormed Israel on October 7, 2023. Israel says war can only end when Hamas is defeated.

ESSENTIAL SUPPLIES

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said Israel's suspension of the entry of fuel, medical, and food supplies since early March had begun to obstruct the work of the few remaining working hospitals, with medical supplies drying up.

"Hundreds of patients and wounded individuals are deprived of essential medications, and their suffering is worsening due to the closure of border crossings," the ministry said.

Israel said the punitive measures were designed to keep up pressure on Hamas, while the group condemned it as "collective punishment."

Since restarting its military offensive in March, after two months of relative calm, Israeli forces have killed more than 1,600 Palestinians, Gaza health authorities have said. The campaign has displaced hundreds of thousands of people and imposed a blockade on all supplies entering the enclave.

Meanwhile, 59 Israeli hostages remain in the hands of Hamas. Israel believes 24 of them are alive.

The war was triggered by Hamas' October 2023 attack on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

Since then, at least 51,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive, according to local health authorities.