Gaza battles flare as Israel slams arrest warrant bid for ‘war crimes’

After Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vehemently rejected a request for an international arrest warrant against him on war crimes charges in the Palestinian territory, Israeli soldiers engaged the Palestinian organisation in combat in Gaza on Tuesday.
US President Joe Biden supported Netanyahu when he denounced as “outrageous” the prosecutor’s request for warrants against leaders of a Palestinian group from the International Criminal Court.

In a 24-hour period, Israel’s military claimed to have conducted airstrikes and ground operations against 70 targets in Gaza, and its forces were also involved in fatal conflicts in the occupied West Bank, the other major Palestinian region.
The health ministry in Ramallah said that at least seven Palestinians had died in the northern city of Jenin, while the army claimed to be “fighting armed men” in an early-morning operation.