KiraChats

Sheikh Saleh Al-Arouri was the Deputy Head of the Political Bureau of Hamas.

Footage of the strike

Hezbollah statement in response:

We consider the assassination of Sheikh Saleh Al-Arouri and his martyred companions in the heart of the southern suburb of Beirut a dangerous attack on Lebanon, its people, its security, its sovereignty, and its resistance. It carries deeply significant political and security messages and implications, and is a dangerous development in the course of the war between the enemy and the Axis of Resistance.

We in Hezbollah affirm that this crime will undoubtedly not go unanswered and unpunished. Our resistance remains firm, proud, and faithful to its principles and commitments that it has made to itself, ready with its hand on the trigger and its fighters at the highest level of readiness and preparedness.

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/1505645

Alt text: Screengrab from Star Trek: TNG showing Data saying to Picard "the Irish Unification of 2024"

Alt text: Screengrab from Star Trek: TNG showing Data saying to Picard "the Irish Unification of 2024"

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Note that the USA is not a member of the International Criminal Court. And in 2002, the USA passed The American Service-Members' Protection Act (known informally as the "Hague Invasion Act"), wherein the USA authorized itself to order military action (including invading the Netherlands where the Hague is located) to protect and free Americans and their allies (including Israel) from custody. It's why George W Bush doesn't fear ICC consequences for his war crimes.

Edit: I originally had the title as "South Africa has applied for the International Court of Justice (colloquially known as 'The Hague' to go after Israel" but SoyViking provided me with education in the comments on why this is not entirely accurate, as well as elucidated some important distinctions between the ICJ and ICC:

Sorry for being a nerd but the International Court of Justice, while also being situated in the Hague, is a different body than the International Criminal Court, which is colloquially called the Hague.

The ICJ dates back to the League of Nations and adjudicates international law disputes between sovereign states, meaning that only states can be parties in cases heard by the ICJ. Their ability to actually enforce their rulings are limited and it is completely possible for states, especially those of the International Community, to go "no that's bollocks" and ignore their decisions.

The ICC is a much more recent invention. They adjudicate criminal cases against individuals. Their actual powers are more tangible than those of the ICJ. If the ICC issues an arrest warrant against someone there's a decent chance that member states of the ICC will actually arrest that individual and extradite them to the Hague. Once there, people who are convicted actually goes to real jail. This is also the reason for the American "Hague Invasion Act" that is an explicit threat that if an American war criminal is extradited to the ICC, the evil empire will invade the Netherlands to break him out of jail.