The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and senior Hamas official Mohammed Deif, accusing them of war crimes related to the October 7 attacks on Israel.
Netanyahu and Gallant face charges of crimes against humanity, including murder, persecution, and the use of starvation as a method of warfare.
This marks a historic first, as Netanyahu is the first Israeli leader to be summoned by an international court for alleged war crimes against Palestinians in the ongoing conflict.
Despite the warrants, the Israeli government has rejected the ICC’s actions, calling them politically biased and discriminatory.
The ICC also issued a warrant for Mohammed Deif, a senior Hamas commander believed to have orchestrated the October 7 attacks.
The court accuses him of crimes including murder, torture, rape, and other forms of sexual violence. While Israel claims Deif was killed in an airstrike in July, Hamas has not confirmed his death.
Israel, like the United States, is not a member of the ICC and disputes the court’s jurisdiction over its actions, particularly in Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the West Bank.
The warrant announced against Netanyahu on Thursday puts him in the same category as Omar Hassan al-Bashir, the deposed president of Sudan, and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.
The court issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March 2023 over crimes committed during Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, including for the forcible deportation of children.
As part of their membership in the court, countries are required to arrest people for whom it has issued warrants, though that obligation has not always been observed.
The ICC is an international tribunal established to prosecute individuals for crimes that fall under its jurisdiction, including genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and aggression.
It is the world’s first permanent international criminal court, created by the Rome Statute in 1998, and became operational in 2002.
The ICC operates as a court of last resort, meaning it intervenes only when national courts are unwilling or unable to prosecute perpetrators of serious crimes.
It is tasked with holding individuals accountable for egregious crimes that threaten international peace and security.
As of now, 123 countries are members of the ICC, though some major powers like the United States, China, Russia, and India are not members.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

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The ICC has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas official Mohammed Deif for war crimes related to attacks on Israel. Netanyahu and Gallant are accused of crimes against humanity, while Deif faces charges including murder and torture. Israel disputes the ICC's actions, claiming bias. The ICC is an international court that prosecutes serious crimes globally. Some major countries like the US, China, Russia, and India are not members. The ICC intervenes when national courts cannot handle serious crimes, aiming to hold individuals accountable to maintain world peace.

ICC Issues Arrest Warrants For Israeli Prime Minister And Hamas Official

Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend the summit of the BRICS group of nations in South Africa next month.
Putin will be represented at the summit by Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Vincent Magwenya, a spokesman for President Cyril Ramaphosa, said:
<blockquote>
By mutual agreement, President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation will not attend the Summit but the Russian Federation will be represented by Foreign Minister, Mr Sergey Lavrov.
</blockquote>
Russian media quoted Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov as saying Putin will participate in the conference – an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) by video link.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March for alleged war crimes committed in Ukraine, and South Africa would theoretically be required to arrest him if he were to attend.
South Africa will host the 15th BRICS summit at Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, from 22-24 August 2023.
The group was formed by Brazil, Russia, India and China in 2019 as BRIC. South Africa joined the following year after an invitation from China, expanding the group.
Ethiopia, Iran and Argentina have also applied to join the bloc.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Putin To Skip BRICS Summit In South Africa After Arrest Warrant

A senior member of South Africa’s main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, has threatened to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin if comes to South Africa.
Western Cape Premier, Alan Winde, said he will arrest Putin if he “sets foot in the Western Cape” and is prepared to face whatever consequences for his stance.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Winde said if Putin does come to South Africa for the BRICS summit in August, the Western Cape will set its law enforcement officers on him. He said:
<blockquote>
If the Russian leader sets foot in the Western Cape, we, as the provincial government, will have him arrested by our own Western Cape Government-funded Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (LEAP) officers. If the South African Police Service is not instructed to act, we will.
</blockquote>
Winde said the Western Cape will arrest Putin in solidarity with the people of Ukraine.
Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and millions of Ukrainians have fled the country and are now refugees in several European countries.
Tens of thousands of students who were attending universities in Ukraine were also forced to flee amid the chaos and blaring air raids warning sirens.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) last month issued an arrest warrant against Putin for alleged war crimes committed in Ukraine.
Kremlin is accused of unlawfully deporting Ukrainian children and separating them from their families.
The warrant against Putin in March means Pretoria, due to host the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) bloc summit this year, would have to detain him on arrival.
The South African government has not said whether it will arrest Putin if he comes to the August summit.
In an interview with Newzroom Afrika on Thursday, Winde criticised the Government of President Cyril Ramaphosa for not stating what will happen to Putin if he comes to South Africa. He said:
<blockquote>
I am very happy to make it quite clear in this province, that if Vladimir Putin comes into this province later in the year, I will do whatever is necessary, and we will follow through and make sure that he is arrested and faces his day in court with the ICC.
</blockquote>
OHCHR has estimated the number of deaths of civilians, or non-armed individuals, in Ukraine at over 8 500 thousand since the start of the war on 24 February 2022.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is a judicial body whose mandate is to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.
The ICC only has jurisdiction over these crimes when they are committed by individuals who are nationals of or whose crimes occurred on the territory of a state party to the Rome Statute, or if the United Nations Security Council refers a case to the ICC.
More: <a href="https://zero.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Western Cape Premier Threatens To Arrest Vladimir Putin

Zimbabwe and Namibia are set to jointly host the 2026 edition of the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup.
Sri Lanka will host the tournament in 2024, while the ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup 2025 will be held in Malaysia and Thailand, and the 2027 event will be jointly hosted by Bangladesh and Nepal.
Fourteen teams will take part in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2027 and the qualification pathways, a<a href="https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/2907502">s reported by ICC</a>, are as follows:
<blockquote>
The qualification pathway for the 14-team ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2027 was also confirmed with 10 teams set to gain automatic qualification.
These 10 teams will include South Africa and Zimbabwe as Full Member hosts, and the next eight highest-ranked teams on the ICC MRF Tyres ODI Rankings on a date to be confirmed. The remaining four teams will qualify through the ICC CWC Global Qualifier series.
</blockquote>
The qualification pathway for the 10-team ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 is as follows:
<blockquote>
Eight teams will automatically qualify for the event, including the top three teams from each group at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023, the host Bangladesh (if not in the top three of Group 1) and the next highest-ranked teams on the MRF Tyres ICC T20I Rankings on 27 February 2023. The remaining two teams will be identified through the 10-team ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Global Qualifier.
</blockquote>

Zimbabwe, Namibia To Host 2026 ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup

<a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Zimbabwe_Cricket">Zimbabwe Cricket</a> workers will, starting this year, take a pay cut as the International Cricket Council slashed funding to ZC by $4 Million to $5 million in November 2019, The Chronicle reports. This was revealed by Tavengwa Mukuhlani, the ZC chairman who spoke to the publication and said:
<blockquote>The distribution has been reduced from $9 million to $5 million from September 2019 to October 2020, but ZC has started to effect the changes now. This was done to cushion employees. Once normal distribution resumes, salaries will be adjusted again.</blockquote>
ZC will also not televise all non-profit home tours, ZC will also not engage on home tours that will not generate revenue to stay on top of their adjusted budget.
More: <a href="https://www.chronicle.co.zw/zc-workers-to-take-pay-cuts/">The Chronicle</a>

ZC Workers Salaries' Cut As ICC Cuts Funding To Zimbabwe By 44% For A Year

The International Cricket Council is expected to issue its verdict on Zimbabwe’s suspension at the ICC gathering in Dubai Sunday News reports. ZC and other stakeholders are holding their breath hoping the decision to lift ZC suspension will be favourable.
The ICC spokesperson said Zimbabwe was on the agenda of their recent board meeting in UAE and the decision will be published on Monday:
<blockquote>Zimbabwe’s suspension is on the agenda of the ICC board meeting, the communication on the outcome will be made on Monday post board meeting</blockquote>
<a href="https://news.pindula.co.zw/2019/07/24/reinstate-cricket-board-or-membership-will-be-terminated-icc-tells-zimbabwe/">ICC suspended ZC</a> after the SRC dissolved the ZC board in June 2019.
More: <a href="https://www.sundaynews.co.zw/icc-to-lift-zimbabwe-suspension/">Sunday News </a>

ICC To Lift Zimbabwe's Suspension?

<blockquote>The Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) board led by Tavengwa Mukuhlani has taken note of the International Cricket Council (ICC)’s decision to suspend Zimbabwe over government interference.
As a result of suspension, ICC funding to ZC has been frozen and representative teams from Zimbabwe will not be allowed to participate in any ICC events.
The ICC has directed that the elected ZC board, chaired by Mukuhlani, be reinstated to office within three months, and progress in this respect will be considered again in October.
The government-run commission had replaced the elected board with an interim committee last month, but the ICC viewed it as government interference, which is against the world body’s rules.
Although the sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe were inevitable, we believe the devastating consequences of suspension should jolt all the parties involved into setting differences aside in an effort to find amicable solutions that will avert expulsion and the total demise of the game.
As things stand, Zimbabwe will be barred from participating in both the women’s and men’s ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019 tournaments, respectively scheduled for Scotland in August-September and Dubai in September-October.
The ICC had also awarded Zimbabwe the right to host another global qualifier event next, but that now hangs in the balance.
To exacerbate matters, ZC will not be able to stage its domestic competitions nor to fulfil its Future Tours Programme and other international obligations, including the tour to Bangladesh for a T20 triangular series that also includes Afghanistan in September.
In all this, players and staff are bearing the brunt of the standoff and they might be forced to go for months or forever without their salaries and match fees.
We would like to see our teams playing again as soon as possible and the ZC board is ready to cooperate with the SRC and other stakeholders to get Zimbabwe back to operating within the confines of the ICC statutes again.
The board is committed to ensuring our game is financially stable, thriving and of a world-class standard.
And in light of the allegations that have been peddled, we are appealing to the SRC to release the findings of a forensic audit that the government-run body recently conducted into the affairs of ZC.
The ZC board would also welcome the ICC to conduct another audit should the world cricket authority so wish.
ZIMBABWE CRICKET 19 JULY 2019</blockquote>

FULL TEXT: Zimbabwe Says We're Ready To Work With SRC To Have Sanctions Lifted

The suspension of Zimbabwe by the International Cricket Council (ICC) has left several Zimbabwe cricketers shocked and heartbroken.
The cricketers feel that the decision has ended their careers. ICC suspended Zimbabwe after the government allegedly violated the global body’s constitution which doesn’t allow any government intervention.
Writing on Twitter, Zimbabwe cricketer, Sikandar Raza said:
<blockquote>How one decision has made a team, strangers, How one decision has made so many people unemployed, How one decision affects so many families, How one decision has ended so many careers, Certainly not how I wanted to say goodbye to international cricket @ICC.</blockquote>
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe all-rounder Solomon Mire (29) announced his retirement from all forms of cricket after the ICC decision. He wrote on Instagram:
<blockquote>I informed the players and tech staff of my decision at the end of the recent tour and wanted to formally announce my decision to retire from Zimbabwe cricket in all formats with immediate effect.
It is unfortunate and untimely however to leave under the current circumstances that are out of my control but I have decided to take a step in a new direction.</blockquote>
The decision by ICC comes when Zimbabwe was scheduled to tour India in January 2020 to play three Twenty20 International (T20I) matches.
<h4>More: <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/articles/zimbabwe-cricketers-left-heartbroken-after-icc-ban/21381150" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mid-Day.com</a></h4>

ICC Ban Leaves Zimbabwe Cricketers Stupefied

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has reportedly opened a case against President Emmerson Mnangagwa over the killing of civilians by the military on August 1 2018.
This was revealed by TeamPachedu, social media activists who claim to be a network of Zimbabwean citizens that strive to inculcate the spirit of transparency, responsibility and accountability by all public officials without fear or favour.
Writing on microblogging site, Twitter, <a href="https://twitter.com/PacheduZW/status/1136900763479920641" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">the group said</a>:
<blockquote>Case number OTP-CR-174/19 has been opened at the International Criminal Court implicating Mr E. Mnangagwa in the murder of innocent civilians by the military on August 1, 2018.</blockquote>
The ICC is an intergovernmental organization whose jurisdiction is to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes of aggression.
Zimbabwe is a signatory to the Rome Statute which established the ICC but has not ratified it.
This means that the ICC cannot try Zimbabwean actors unless the United Nations Security Council approves.

ICC Opens Case On Zimbabwe Over August 1 Killings By The Military

The Zimbabwe cricket women’s team won against Namibia in the ICC Women’s Qualifier Africa 2019. They beat the Namibian team by 50 runs.
Zimbabwe beat 9 other countries in the tournament that start on 5 May. As the winners, Zimbabwe has secured a place at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier places taking place in Scotland between 31 August and 7 September, 2019 where they will join Bangladesh, Ireland, Scotland and Thailand.
https://twitter.com/ZimCricketv/status/1127539397132468231
The 2019 ICC Women’s Qualifier Africa was played in Zimbabwe from 5 to 12 May 2019. The tournament was played in the Twenty20 International (T20I) format, a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the highest T20 standard.
Here were the schedule of matches as played:
<img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-96373" decoding="async" height="921" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px" src="https://t792ae.c2.acecdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/iccwqa.jpg" srcset="https://news.pindula.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/iccwqa.jpg 650w, https://news.pindula.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/iccwqa-212x300.jpg 212w, https://news.pindula.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/iccwqa-600x850.jpg 600w" width="650"/>

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