Israel and its close allies were furious, human rights groups rejoiced, and many countries responded cautiously after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant on Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The court also issued warrants for Israel's former defense minister as well as Hamas's military chief Mohammed Deif.

The European Union's foreign policy chief said International Criminal Court arrest warrants issued Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas's military chief Mohammed Deif were "binding" and should be implemented.

"It is not a political decision. It is a decision of a court, of a court of justice, of an international court of justice. And the decision of the court has to be respected and implemented," Josep Borrell said during a visit to the Jordanian capital Amman.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the International Criminal Court of anti-Semitism after it issued arrest warrants against himself and his former defense minister on Thursday, calling it "a modern-day Dreyfus trial".

"The anti-Semitic decision of the International Criminal Court is comparable to the modern-day Dreyfus trial -- and it will end in the same way," Netanyahu said in a statement, referring to the 19th century Alfred Dreyfus affair in which a Jewish army captain was wrongly convicted of treason in France.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants on Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and Hamas officials, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the war in Gaza and the October 2023 attacks that triggered Israel's offensive in the Palestinian territory.

The decision turns Netanyahu and the others into internationally wanted suspects and is likely to further isolate them and complicate efforts to negotiate a cease-fire to end the 13-month conflict. But its practical implications could be limited since Israel and its major ally, the United States, are not members of the court and several of the Hamas officials have been subsequently killed in the conflict.

The Senate on Wednesday rejected attempts by Sen. Bernie Sanders Wednesday to block sales of offensive weapons to Israel for its war in Gaza over mounting civilian deaths there.

The Vermont lawmaker and a small group of Democrats sought to put legislation up for a Senate vote that would block the sale of some tank and mortar rounds and smart-bomb kits to Israel. The first attempt to block the sales was rejected overwhelmingly, and two more efforts also went down to defeat.

Israeli strikes killed 79 pro-Iran fighters, including from Iraq and Lebanon, in the Syrian city of Palmyra, a monitor said Thursday, updating the toll for the raids a day earlier.

The toll was "the highest due to Israeli raids on pro-Iran groups in Syria since the start of the conflict" in the country in 2011, said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The United States on Wednesday vetoed a U.N. Security Council push to call for a ceasefire in Gaza that Washington said would have emboldened Hamas.

"We made clear throughout negotiations we could not support an unconditional ceasefire that failed to release the hostages," said U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Robert Wood.

Israel has allowed an Al Jazeera journalist wounded in an airstrike in Gaza last month to be evacuated to Jordan for medical treatment.

Jordan’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that Ali al-Attar had been transferred to the kingdom with his sister in coordination with the World Health Organization. There was no immediate comment from Israel.

The Syrian defense ministry said 36 people were killed and more than 50 wounded in Israeli air strikes in the city of Palmyra on Wednesday.

"The Israeli enemy launched an air attack from the direction of the Al-Tanf area, targeting a number of buildings in the city of Palmyra," a ministry statement said, adding that it had killed 36 people and wounded more than 50, as well as causing "significant material damage".

Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson says Hamas leaders have left Doha but denied reports that Qatar has ordered a permanent closure of the Palestinian militant group’s political office or expulsion of its previously Doha-based leadership.

Qatar, which had served as a mediator in indirect cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas for a cease-fire and hostage exchange deal, has suspended its efforts after growing frustration with the lack of progress on a cease-fire deal for Gaza.