Southport killer will be treated as a terrorist in jail, Yvette Cooper tells MPs – as it happened

Home secretary also says inquiry into the attack will cover wider threat posed by youth violence

Starmer says nothing will be off the table in the inquiry.

There are also questions about the accountability of the Whitehall and Westminster system – a system that is far too often driven by circling the institutional wagons, that does not react until justice is either hard won by campaigners, or until appalling tragedies like this [take place].

Time and again we see this pattern, and people are right to be angry about it. I’m angry about it.

There are also bigger questions, questions such as how we protect our children from the tidal wave of violence freely available online.

Because you can’t tell me that the material this individual viewed before committing these murders should be accessible on mainstream social media platforms, but with just a few clicks, people can watch video after horrific video – videos that, in some cases, are never taken down,

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Australia’s pro-Palestine movement shifts focus to pressuring Albanese to cut ties with Israel

Groups call for Benjamin Netanyahu’s arrest and urge Australia to pressure Israel on Palestine just as South Africa was over apartheid

Pro-Palestine protests that have been held every week in Sydney and Melbourne since 7 October 2023 will now switch focus to pressuring the federal government into cutting ties with Israel, organisers have said.

Amal Naser, from the Palestine Action Group (PAG), called the ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel a “step forward” for the pro-Palestine movement in Australia, and said the group would now pivot from weekly protests to targeted protests that call for specific policy change in government.

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Netanyahu: no vote on Gaza ceasefire deal until Hamas accepts all terms

Israeli prime minister’s demand before expected cabinet meeting threatens to derail peace negotiations

Benjamin Netanyahu has said his cabinet will not meet to vote on the ceasefire deal intended to pause the war in Gaza until “Hamas accepts all elements of the agreement”, in a move that threatens to derail months of work to end the brutal 15-month conflict.

The unexpected delay has sparked fears that last-minute disagreements between Israel and Hamas or hardline opposition could still scuttle the deal, although senior US officials insisted the hard-won ceasefire would go into effect on Sunday as planned.

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Israel-Gaza war live: Progress made in ceasefire and hostage release talks, officials say, but deal not yet reached

Israel claims not to have seen ‘final’ draft of agreement designed to end war as some officials optimistic deal is close

At least 46,584 Palestinian people have been killed and 109,731 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since 7 October 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Monday.

At least 19 Palestinians were killed in the last 24 hours, the ministry said.

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Hamas releases video it says is of Israeli hostage held in Gaza since 2023 attack

Family of now 19-year-old conscript Liri Albag appeals to PM to ‘take decisions as if it were your own children there’

The armed wing of Hamas has released a video it says is of an Israeli hostage held in Gaza since its October 2023 attack.

Liri Albag, described by local media as a soldier, was 18 when she was captured by Palestinian militants at the Nahal Oz base on the Gaza border along with six other women conscripts, five of whom remain in captivity.

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Officials claim Israeli military ‘burning’ Kamal Adwan hospital after forced evacuation of patients – Middle East crisis live

Israel says Gaza hospital is ‘Hamas terrorist stronghold’ and it made efforts to facilitate evacuation of those inside

An estimated 730,000 people living in tents in camps for the displaced in northwest Syria are experiencing dire conditions this winter including from flooding, the UN humanitarian office has said.

The UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (OCHA) said yesterday that more than 200 family tents in camps in Idlib and northern Aleppo were damaged by flooding from heavy rainfall on 23 December.

“Since the start of 2024, flooding and strong winds have damaged more than 8,800 family tents – including nearly 2,000 that were fully destroyed – across 260 camps,” OCHA said.

In early December, the UN said about 1.1 million people had been displaced since Syrian rebels launched the offensive that ousted former president Bashar al-Assad. Among those displaced were more than 100,000 people who have fled into Kurdish-administered areas in northern Syria amid escalating factional fighting and fears of retaliatory attacks.

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Officials claim Israeli military ‘burning’ Kamal Adwan hospital after forced evacuation of patients – Middle East crisis live

Israel says Gaza hospital is ‘Hamas terrorist stronghold’ and it made efforts to facilitate evacuation of those inside

An estimated 730,000 people living in tents in camps for the displaced in northwest Syria are experiencing dire conditions this winter including from flooding, the UN humanitarian office has said.

The UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (OCHA) said yesterday that more than 200 family tents in camps in Idlib and northern Aleppo were damaged by flooding from heavy rainfall on 23 December.

“Since the start of 2024, flooding and strong winds have damaged more than 8,800 family tents – including nearly 2,000 that were fully destroyed – across 260 camps,” OCHA said.

In early December, the UN said about 1.1 million people had been displaced since Syrian rebels launched the offensive that ousted former president Bashar al-Assad. Among those displaced were more than 100,000 people who have fled into Kurdish-administered areas in northern Syria amid escalating factional fighting and fears of retaliatory attacks.

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Middle East crisis: one child killed every hour in Gaza, UN says – as it happened

This live blog is now closed, you can read more of our coverage of the Middle East here

Israeli forces have killed a Palestinian man in a dawn raid on a refugee camp near the city of Tulkarm in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Palestinian and Israeli officials said. The Israeli military said the man was killed in a “counter-terrorism” operation that resulted in 18 arrests, Reuters reports. Palestinian news agency Wafa said that Fathi Saeed Odeh Salem died after snipers shot him and fired on ambulance crew. We have not yet been able to independently verify any of this information. Meanwhile, medics said at least nine Palestinians, including a member of the civil emergency service, were killed in four separate Israeli airstrikes across the territory today.

At least 45,338 Palestinian people have been killed and 107,764 injured in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza since 7 October 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

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Israeli military to remain in Gaza for years, food minister says

Avi Dichter, of Israel’s security cabinet, made the comments as reports of the scale of Israel’s military infrastructure in the territory emerge

The Israeli military will remain in Gaza for many years, fighting against fresh Hamas recruits in the territory and could be responsible for delivery of humanitarian aid there, a senior Israeli minister has said.

The comments by Avi Dichter, Israel’s minister for food security and a member of the Israeli security cabinet, confirm an emerging picture of a long-term deployment of Israeli troops inside Gaza, with no immediate Israeli plan for any other administration to govern the territory’s 2.3 million people and begin reconstruction there.

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Thousands return to southern Lebanon amid uneasy ceasefire

Displaced people make their way home despite volatile situation and warnings from Israeli military

Thousands of people displaced from war-torn southern Lebanon have begun returning home after a ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah took effect on Wednesday, amid fears on both sides of the border about whether the truce would hold.

Israel heavily bombed the capital, Beirut, and the south of the country throughout Tuesday, killing 42 people, until the truce began at 4am local time, while Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel, triggering air raid sirens.

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France says Netanyahu is immune from ICC warrant as Israel is not member of court

Claim comes after Paris signalled it would fulfil obligations as signatory to Rome statute after arrest warrant issued

The French government has claimed that Benjamin Netanyahu has immunity from arrest warrants issued by the international criminal court for war crimes on the grounds that Israel is not an ICC member.

The claim came soon after Netanyahu’s cabinet agreed to a French-backed ceasefire in Lebanon and is in contrast to Paris’s attitude towards last year’s ICC war crimes warrant issued against Vladimir Putin, another leader of a non-member country.

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What are the terms of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire and will it succeed?

A truce between Israel and the Lebanese militant group has come into effect after 14 months of fighting

A ceasefire to end 14 months of fighting between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah has come into effect, with Lebanese civilians already returning to the devastated south of the country.

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Hungary invites Netanyahu to visit as world leaders split over ICC arrest warrant

Viktor Orbán says he will not enforce ICC decision that requires court members to detain Israeli PM if he enters their country

Hungary’s illiberal prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has said he will invite his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, to visit in defiance of an international criminal court arrest warrant, as world leaders split over the ICC’s momentous decision.

The world’s highest criminal court issued warrants on Thursday for Netanyahu, his former defence minister Yoav Gallant and the Hamas commander Ibrahim al-Masri, commonly known as Mohammed Deif, who is believed to be dead, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

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‘Reward for terrorism’: Israeli politicians unite to condemn ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu

Leaders from across spectrum are outspoken in rejection of court’s ‘antisemitic’ and ‘outrageous’ decision

Israeli leaders from across the political spectrum united to condemn the decision by a three-judge panel of the international criminal court to issue arrest warrants for the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the former defence minister Yoav Gallant.

Netanyahu’s office described the warrants as “an antisemitic decision … equivalent to the modern Dreyfus trial”, referring to the 1894 trial of a French artillery captain of Jewish descent that has become one of the most prominent examples of antisemitism.

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War crimes charges will be hard stigma for Netanyahu to shrug off

The ICC warrants are a legal earthquake and could weigh heavier on the Israeli PM and his former minister over time

Middle East crisis – live updates

The arrest warrants issued by the international criminal court (ICC) represent an earthquake on the world’s legal landscape: the first time a western ally from a modern democracy has been charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity by a global judicial body.

Inside Israel, the warrants against Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant will not have an immediate impact. In the short term they are likely to rally support around the prime minister from a defiant Israeli public.

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US and Israel reject ICC warrant for Netanyahu’s arrest as number of countries signal they will abide by it – as it happened

This live blog is now closed. You can read our latest reporting on the ICC arrest warrant here:

Israel’s position has always held that the rulings of the international criminal court do not apply to it, as it is not a member.

Foreign minister Gideon Saar on Thursday said that it had “issued absurd orders with no authority” against Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant because “Israel is not a member of the court.”

The Chamber found reasonable grounds to believe that during the relevant time, international humanitarian law related to international armed conflict between Israel and Palestine applied. This is because they are two High Contracting Parties to the 1949 Geneva Conventions and because Israel occupies at least parts of Palestine.

The Chamber also found that the law related to non-international armed conflict applied to the fighting between Israel and Hamas.

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ICC issues arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged Gaza war crimes

Joe Biden describes as ‘outrageous’ the warrants for Israeli PM and former defence minister, which put them at risk of detention if they go to some other countries

The international criminal court has issued arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s former defence minister Yoav Gallant and the Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif for alleged war crimes relating to the Gaza war.

It is the first time that leaders of a democracy and western-aligned state have been charged by the court, in the most momentous decision of its 22-year history.

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Netanyahu aide questioned over alleged tampering with 7 October phone records

Police investigate claim that Israeli PM’s chief of staff changed recorded time of call made about Hamas attacks

A top aide of Benjamin Netanyahu has been questioned by police investigating reports of alterations made to official records of phone calls involving the Israeli prime minister on the morning of the 7 October attacks.

Israeli media reported that Netanyahu’s chief of staff, Tzachi Braverman, is suspected of changing the recorded time of a conversation the prime minister held with his military secretary in the first minutes of the attack to protect the prime minister.

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Conflict in Gaza an ‘Israeli terrorism creation factory’, warns Australian on UN inquiry

Former human rights commissioner Chris Sidoti says ‘there is no end in sight’ as ongoing bombardment is sowing seeds for generations of hostilities

“Kids aren’t terrorists,” Chris Sidoti told the handful of journalists assembled in the quiet of the UN’s New York headquarters.

Thousands of kilometres from the conflict in Gaza he was documenting, Sidoti felt compelled to repeat it: “Kids aren’t terrorists.”

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Aid entering Gaza is lowest in months, says Unrwa, as US deadline approaches – Middle East crisis, as it happened

This live blog is closed.

Images sent over the news wires show smoke billowing over Beirut after Israeli strikes on the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital.

Lebanese media is reporting that two people have been killed and six wounded in an Israeli airstrike on Hermel, which is in the north-east of the country near the border with Syria.

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