The head of the Arab League says his organization wants the International Criminal Court in The Hague to investigate the deaths last week of 18 Palestinians during protests near Gaza's border with Israel.

Ahmed Aboul-Gheit said Wednesday during an official visit to Lisbon, Portugal that the Arab League also supports U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' call for an independent investigation of the killings by Israeli forces.

Last Friday, thousands of Palestinians marched near the border fence between Israel and Gaza. Israel warns that those approaching the border are endangering their lives.

Aboul-Gheit says Palestinians are demanding their rights "and they will not be forgotten or diminished."

He said he hoped the killings would stop "because the demonstrations will continue at least until May 15" — the 70th anniversary of Israel's creation. </s> Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh has called on the Arab League to sue Israel at the International Criminal Court (ICC). The demand came during a phone call Haniyeh made with Secretary-General of the Cairo-based league, Ahmed Abul-Gheit, to discuss Israeli practices against the Palestinians. Haniyeh underlined the need "to go to the U.N. General Assembly to discuss the [Israeli] crime and form a special investigation commission." his office said in a statement, as reported by Anadolu Agency (AA).

The U.N. Security Council (UNSC) held a session Saturday at the request of Kuwait to discuss the situation on Gaza border, but the Council failed to condemn the Israeli violence against Palestinian protesters. The U.S. declined calls from the U.N. Security Council for an investigation into violence on the Israeli-Gaza border that left 18 Palestinians dead, a U.N. official said Monday.

Speaking at Arab League session, Palestinian Ambassador to Egypt Diab al-Louh accused the U.S. of "encouraging" Israel to continue committing "heinous crimes" against defenseless Palestinians.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch yesterday accused Israel of "unlawful" excessive force when it responded last week to mass Palestinian protests with live fire. The group issued a report saying that although there was violence at the protest on Friday, like rock throwing and burning tires, there is no evidence that demonstrators "seriously threatened" Israeli soldiers.

Friday was the bloodiest single day in the embattled coastal enclave since a 2014 war between Israel and Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip. </s> Secretary-General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, said Thursday the decision of US President Donald Trump to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights is “irrelevant and illegal,” according to the Al Mayadeen news channel. </s> An Islamist militant suspected of committing war crimes in Mali is due to appear before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague on Wednesday, three days after the Malian authorities handed him over into the court's custody last week.

The ICC indicted Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud for crimes allegedly committed when he served as the de-facto chief of religious police after his jihadist group seized control of Mali's capital Timbuktu in 2012.

Charges against him include the destruction of cultural monuments and enforcing policies that led to sexual enslavement of women and girls.

Prosecutors accuse him of being a member of Ansar Dine, one of several Islamist militant groups to have waged an insurgency against the government since 2012.

During his initial appearance, Al Hassan, 40, will be informed of the allegations outlined in his arrest warrant and the court will verify his identity. He is not yet required to enter a plea. </s> CAIRO: An emergency meeting at the level of the permanent delegates was held at the headquarters of the Council of the Arab League on Tuesday to discuss developments of the situation in Palestine.

 The Sultanate was represented in the meeting by Dr Ali bin Ahmed al Issaee, Sultanate’s Ambassador to Egypt, its Permanent Delegate to the Council of the Arab League.

 The Arab League affirmed that the meeting was devoted to discussing Israel’s crimes against the peaceful demonstrations of the Palestinians and who took part in the march themed ‘Great Return March’ marking the Land Day last Friday’s to demand the right of return for the Palestinian refugees.

 Diab al Louh, Ambassador of Palestine to Egypt, its Permanent Representative to the Arab League, stressed the necessity of a quick intervention to provide protection to the defenceless Palestinian people, especially after the massacre committed by Israel against peaceful demonstrators in the Gaza Strip. — ONA </s> UN says expert arrested in Tunisia has diplomatic immunity

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations says a member of the U.N. panel of experts monitoring sanctions against Libya has been arrested in Tunisia despite having diplomatic immunity.

U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said Mocef Kartas, who reportedly has dual German-Tunisian citizenship, was arrested following his arrival in Tunis on March 26.

Haq told reporters Friday that the U.N. has asked Tunisian authorities about the reasons for his arrest and the conditions under which he is being held.

He said the U.N. also informed authorities that "experts on mission for the United Nations, as Mr. Kartas is, are covered by the convention on the privileges and immunities of the United Nations."

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will be attending the Arab League summit in Tunis this weekend. </s> Image copyright AFP/Getty Images Image caption Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir was in South Africa for a meeting of African leaders in 2015

South Africa has formally begun the process of withdrawing from the International Criminal Court (ICC), notifying the UN of its decision.

South Africa did not want to execute ICC arrest warrants which would lead to "regime change", a minister said.

Last year, a South African court criticised the government for refusing to arrest Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir.

He is wanted by the ICC on charges of genocide and war crimes.

Mr Bashir was attending an African Union summit in Johannesburg, when the government ignored an ICC request to arrest him.

He denies allegations that he committed atrocities in Sudan's troubled western Darfur region.

Several media outlets say they have obtained a copy of the "Instrument of Withdrawal", signed by South Africa's foreign minister.

"The Republic of South Africa has found that its obligations with respect to the peaceful resolution of conflicts at times are incompatible with the interpretation given by the International Criminal Court," the document says.

'Runaway train'

Justice Minister Michael Masutha said at a press conference that the government would table legislation in parliament to withdraw South Africa from the ICC.

The Rome Statute, under which the ICC was set up, required the arrest of heads of state for whom a warrant was issued.

The consequence of this would be "regime change" and the statute was incompatible with South African legislation which gave heads of state diplomatic immunity, he added.

Analysis: Anna Holligan, BBC ICC correspondent

Image copyright EPA Image caption President Zuma recently met his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta, against whom an ICC prosecution failed

The ICC has a notoriously fractious relationship with the African continent. Despite 34 African nations voluntarily signing up to the court's jurisdiction - in recent years a handful of governments have decided their idea of international justice is incompatible with that set out in the Rome Statute.

When the Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta was charged with crimes against humanity, the African Union argued that heads of state should be entitled to immunity for the duration of their term in office, a direct contravention of the ICC's raison d'etre to hold the most powerful to account. The trial against Mr Kenyatta later collapsed because of a lack of evidence.

There were almost farcical scenes when the Sudanese president attended a summit in Johannesburg at the invitation of the African Union, then disappeared during dinner after resounding calls from human rights groups for South Africa to uphold its obligation as a member of the ICC to detain him in line with the outstanding arrest warrant.

It seems this divided loyalty between the competing demands of AU and ICC has driven South Africa to initiate the process of pulling out. Nine out of 10 of the ICC's current investigations are in Africa - leading to allegations of bias against African countries.

So is this the beginning of the end of the world's first permanent war crimes court? The answer will partly depend on whether this withdrawal generates a domino effect.

Human Rights Watch has criticised South Africa's decision.

"South Africa's proposed withdrawal from the International Criminal Court shows startling disregard for justice from a country long seen as a global leader on accountability for victims of the gravest crimes," said Dewa Mavhinga, the NGO's Africa division senior researcher.

"It's important both for South Africa and the region that this runaway train be slowed down and South Africa's hard-won legacy of standing with victims of mass atrocities be restored," Mr Mavhinga said.

Image copyright AFP Image caption The ICC says its focus is on helping victims of conflict achieve justice

Mr Masutha said the government had also decided to drop its appeal against a ruling of South Africa's High Court, that it had violated its international obligations by failing to arrest Mr Bashir.

The appeal was due to have been heard next month.

The move to leave comes a week after the South African President Jacob Zuma visited Kenya, a country that has been highly critical of the ICC ever since the prosecutor charged its President Uhuru Kenyatta with crimes against humanity.

He denied the charges, and the trial later collapsed beceause of a lack of evidence.

The ICC and global justice:

Came into force in 2002

The Rome Statute that set it up has been ratified by 123 countries, but the US is a notable absence

It aims to prosecute and bring to justice those responsible for the worst crimes - genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes

In the court's 14-year history it has only brought charges against Africans.

What is the International Criminal Court?

Two weeks ago Burundi said it would pull out of the ICC - a decision described by the court as "a setback in the fight against impunity". MPs backed the decision and its president signed the measure into law on Tuesday.

Last year, Namibia also said it planned to withdraw from the ICC, describing the court as an an "abomination" which wanted to "dictate" to Africans on how they should be governed.

Previously, the African Union has urged member states not to co-operate with the ICC, accusing it of being racially biased against Africa by failing to prosecute suspected war criminals from other parts of the world.

The ICC denies the allegation, saying it pursues justice on behalf of Africans who are victims of atrocities.

The 124-member ICC opened in 2002. It is the first legal body with permanent international jurisdiction to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. </s> AMSTERDAM - The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on Sunday called for an end to violence in the Gaza Strip, adding the Palestinian territories were subject to preliminary examination by her office and she was monitoring events there closely.



Following the deaths of 29 Palestinians in protest clashes with Israeli forces in the past two weeks, Fatou Bensouda said in a statement "any new alleged crime committed in the context of the situation in Palestine may be subjected to my Office's scrutiny." </s> United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday that the truth needed to be established after two oil tankers were attacked this week in the Gulf of Oman.

Guterres told reporters that the international body condemned the attack.

Ahmed Aboul Gheit, the head of the Arab League, urged Iran to reverse course, after the United States blamed the country for the attacks, Reuters reported.

Iran’s mission to the UN said earlier that Tehran categorically rejects the “unfounded” US claim over Thursday’s attacks on the oil tankers.
Ahmed Aboul Gheit, head of the Arab League, asks the International Criminal Court for an investigation.