Israeli officials appear increasingly concerned that the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, could issue arrest warrants for Israeli leaders six months after the Israeli-Canadian war began.
The New York Times reported that Israeli officials believe the International Criminal Court (ICC) may issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials and Hamas leaders.
It is reportedly unclear against whom the ICC will issue arrest warrants or on what charges.
At the same time, the ICC prosecution declined to comment in detail in a statement sent to The Associated Press.
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made sweeping references to the ICC's actions against Israeli troops and officials on social media platforms. Israel's foreign ministry said the agency was also tracking reports of upcoming actions.
Netanyahu said on social media platform X last Friday (April 26) that Israel "will never accept any attempt by the ICC to undermine its inherent right to self-defense".
"While the ICC will not influence Israel's actions, it will set a dangerous precedent," he wrote.
The ICC was established more than a decade ago to address impunity for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and other serious crimes committed by States without prosecution. In the absence of a police force, the ICC relies on member states to arrest suspects.
Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs also said on Sunday (April 28) evening that it had informed missions abroad of "rumors" that the court might order the arrest of senior Israeli political and military officials. The ministry did not disclose the source of the rumors.
Israel often accuses international institutions such as the United Nations of bias. The ICC is not a UN agency, but in 2015 it accepted the "State of Palestine" as a member, and in 2014 Palestine accepted the jurisdiction of the ICC.
The then chief prosecutor of the court announced in 2021 that she would open an investigation into possible crimes in the Palestinian territories. Netanyahu has slammed the decision as hypocritical and anti-Semitic.
Karim Khan, the current prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, visited Ramallah and Israel last December, meeting with Palestinian officials and the families of Israelis killed or taken hostage in the attack by Hamas militants that sparked Israel's war with Hamas on October 7.
Khan called Hamas's actions "some of the most serious international crimes that shocked the conscience of humanity, and the ICC was established to address them" and called for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.
Khan said that in Israel's war with Hamas, "international humanitarian law must still apply" and that "the Israeli military knows the law that must be applied".
Background: International Criminal Court
The ICC's 124 member states signed a 2002 treaty called the Rome Statute. Dozens of countries have not signed and do not accept the Court's jurisdiction over war crimes, genocide and other crimes. These include Israel, the United States, Russia and China.
The ICC intervenes when states are unable or unwilling to prosecute crimes on their territory. Israel argues that it has a well-functioning court system and that past disputes between the Court and individual States have been exacerbated by disputes over States' ability or willingness to prosecute.
The ICC is conducting 17 investigations, issuing 42 arrest warrants and detaining 21 suspects. Judges have convicted 10 suspects and acquitted4 of them.
In 2020, then-U.S. President Donald Trump imposed economic and travel sanctions on the ICC prosecutor and another senior staff member of the prosecutor's office. ICC staff were investigating whether U.S. and allied military and intelligence officials might have committed war crimes in Afghanistan.
The Biden administration lifted this sanction against ICC staff in 2021.
Chinese businessmen put up a list of the last plots of land in Tasmania's former large dairy farm
After years of ups and downs, the remnants of a 200-year-old farm in north-west Tasmania are about to be put up for sale.
On Monday (April 29), Chinese billionaire Xianfeng Lu announced that he would sell his last 9,500-hectare plot of land on the remote Woolnorth estate.
"It is disappointing that I will be putting our remaining land in Woolnorth on the market in anticipation of the imminent expiration of the long-term milk supply agreement," he said. ”
"I am honoured to be the owner and custodian of one of Australia's most important historic agricultural properties. ”
The property last changed hands in 2016 when a Chinese investment firm beat out an Australian company in a last-minute bid to win the property for $280 million.
那次出售曾需要得到时任财长斯科特·莫里森（Scott Morrison）领导的外国投资审批委员会（Foreign Investment Review Board）的批准。
At the time of its sale in 2016, the farm was Australia's largest dairy business, covering 143,500 hectares and a total of 17,890 cows.
It was previously reported that New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra cancelled its contract with Mr. Lu's company, Van Dairy Limited (VDL), in February this year to produce 25 million litres of milk due to a series of unsolvable commercial factors.
Following the announcement, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) was informed that Mr. Lu had slaughtered about 700 cows.
Initially, Mr. Lo and others had an ambitious plan to fly millions of litres of fresh Tasmanian milk to Chinese consumers in Ningbo, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Beijing. But it was not successful.
Last month, Prime Dair, the dairy arm of Prime Value Asset Management, bought a 700-hectare dairy farm on its Woolnorth estate in northwestern Tasmania for $15 million.