The Times of Israel is liveblogging Friday’s events as they happen.
Trump signs order sanctioning ICC over Israel arrest warrants
American President Donald Trump has signed an executive order imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court over investigations of Israel.
Neither the US nor Israel are members of or recognize the court. Israel is a close US ally and the court last year issued arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant over Israel’s military conduct in Gaza during the war started by the Hamas-led terror onslaught on October 7, 2023. The court also issued warrants for three Hamas leaders, all of whom have since been killed.
Trump’s order says the ICC’s actions set a “dangerous precedent.” Sanctions include blocking ICC officials from entering the United States.
Confirming strikes, IDF says fighter jets hit Hezbollah arms depots that violated ceasefire
The IDF confirms carrying out strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, saying fighter jets hit a pair of sites where the Iran-backed terrorist group was storing weaponry in violation of the ceasefire reached in November.
A statement from the Israel Defense Forces describes the strikes as “targeted” and vows the military “will prevent any attempt by the Hezbollah terror organization to rearm, in accordance with the understandings of the ceasefire agreement.”
Netanyahu says ‘worth listening carefully’ to Trump’s proposal for Gaza
In a video statement from his Washington hotel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that it is “worth listening carefully” to US President Donald Trump’s proposal to relocate Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.
Trump, says the prime minister, “raised his idea about Gaza, about the day after Hamas, and I think it is worth listening carefully to this idea, which is the first original idea that has been raised in years.”
He says Republican and Democrat Congressional leaders all agreed on two things – Iran must not have nuclear weapons, and “Hamas must be eliminated. It cannot be there in Gaza.”