ICC Asks Sudan to Allow Access to Investigators

ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda during her visit to Sudan in October. AFP file photo
ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda during her visit to Sudan in October. AFP file photo
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ICC Asks Sudan to Allow Access to Investigators

ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda during her visit to Sudan in October. AFP file photo
ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda during her visit to Sudan in October. AFP file photo

The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor has urged the UN Security Council to pressure Sudan into allowing access for investigators to conduct a probe in the Darfur region.

"I reiterate this call and urge this Council to impress upon Sudan the urgent need for my investigators to access its territory and in particular, to conduct investigative missions in Darfur without further delay," Fatou Bensouda said in a briefing.

Bensouda said that she stressed, during her trip to Sudan in October, the urgent need for ICC investigators to be given access to the territory of Sudan.

"It had been my hope that my team would have traveled to Sudan in November for an operational assessment mission to pave the way for fully-fledged investigative activities immediately thereafter. Unfortunately, this mission was postponed at the request of the Sudanese authorities."

Unless the mission is rescheduled soon, the ICC investigators risk losing a golden opportunity to directly engage with victims and witnesses, for the first time and to ensure their evidence is made available to the judges at Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman's confirmation of charges hearing, scheduled for Feb. 22, she said.

Abd-Al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb, was transferred to the ICC in June following his voluntary surrender to the authorities in the Central African Republic.

He made his initial appearance before an ICC pre-trial chamber the same month. The confirmation of charges hearing was set to be held on Dec. 7, but has since been postponed to Feb. 22.

Security Council Resolution 1593, passed in 2005, referred the Darfur situation to the ICC prosecutor and called on the Sudanese government and other parties to the conflict to cooperate fully with the court and its prosecutor.



Israeli Strikes Kill 14 People in Gaza, Mediators Strive for a Truce Deal

 Palestinians search for casualties at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, January 5, 2025. (Reuters)
Palestinians search for casualties at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, January 5, 2025. (Reuters)
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Israeli Strikes Kill 14 People in Gaza, Mediators Strive for a Truce Deal

 Palestinians search for casualties at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, January 5, 2025. (Reuters)
Palestinians search for casualties at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, January 5, 2025. (Reuters)

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 14 Palestinians in three separate attacks in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, taking the weekend death toll to 102, Palestinian medics said, as US and Arab mediators stepped up efforts to conclude a ceasefire deal.

Health officials said an Israeli airstrike killed five people in a house in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, while another airstrike killed four others in Jabalia in the northern edge of the enclave, where Israeli forces have been operating for three months.

Later on Sunday, an Israeli airstrike hit a police station in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, killing five people, medics said. It wasn't immediately clear if all the dead were policemen.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on Sunday's strikes.

Earlier on Sunday, the health ministry of Hamas-run Gaza said Israeli strikes across the territory had killed at least 88 Palestinians and wounded more than 200 others in the past 24 hours.

In Gaza City's Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, relatives and neighbors rushed to the Zuhd family's house, which was struck by an Israeli airstrike late on Saturday, killing seven people, medics said. The search continued on Sunday morning for four others believed to be trapped under the rubble.

A hand belonging to one of the dead could be seen amongst the ruins, with the rest of his body buried under collapsed masonry. Three men removed dirt with their bare hands to retrieve bodies and search for possible survivors.

"Three young men, the son’s wife, and three children are still here. We retrieved this cousin of mine. Another cousin has been martyred and is now in the hospital. Approximately 11 people have been martyred here," Ammar Zuhd, a relative, told Reuters.

ISRAEL SAYS DOZENS OF HAMAS MILITANTS KILLED

The Israeli military said in a statement on Sunday that its forces had attacked more than 100 targets across Gaza over the weekend, killing dozens of Hamas fighters. It said it had also destroyed rocket launching sites that had been used to wage rocket attacks on Israel in recent days.

A renewed push is underway to reach a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas, and return Israeli hostages who were taken to Gaza, before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20.

Israeli negotiators were dispatched on Friday to resume talks in Doha brokered by Qatari and Egyptian mediators, while US President Joe Biden's administration, which is helping to mediate, urged Hamas to agree to a deal.

Hamas said it was committed to reaching an agreement as soon as possible, but it was unclear how close the two sides were.

Israel launched its assault on Gaza in response to an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas fighters on communities in southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's military campaign, with the stated goal of eradicating Hamas, has leveled swathes of the enclave, driving most people from their homes, and has killed 45,805 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry.