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Prosecutors in New York dropped charges Friday against a keffiyeh-wearing, pro-Palestinian protester who was among the first people arrested under a local face mask ban that's stirred free speech concerns.

Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly’s office confirmed it moved to dismiss the charges against Xavier Roa during a court hearing on Long Island.

"The case was investigated extensively and upon conclusion NCDA determined that the allegations could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt and moved to dismiss the charges," spokesperson Nicole Turso said in a statement.

Roa’s lawyer Geoffrey Stewart hailed the decision as a "big victory" for his client and "for civil liberties," but argued the law itself "should be struck from the books."

"This case shows that the law can, and in all likelihood will be abused by law enforcement because the law is unconstitutionally vague," he said in an email.

More Israeli airstrikes were launched on Beirut's southern suburbs Friday night.

The attacks came shortly after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders for three locations in Haret Hreik and Ghobeiry.

The region has been bombarded repeatedly for two days. It came after some relative calm earlier this week when US negotiator Amos Hochstein was in Beirut for ceasefire talks.

Fierce battles between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli soldiers are raging around the southern Lebanon border town of Khiam.

The Israeli military has for weeks tried to capture the hilltop town due to its strategic location in the region.

Earlier on Thursday, Israeli forces blocked an area north of Khiam, cutting off the Marjaayoun area to Nabatiyeh, as they try to advance deeper into south Lebanon.

The Palestinian Authority accused Israel on Friday of encouraging "extremist settlers to commit terrorism" after it announced a halt to the use of administrative detention, or incarceration without trial, against them.

The Palestinian foreign ministry "believes that this decision encourages extremist settlers to commit terrorism against Palestinians, their land and their properties, while giving them an additional sense of impunity and protection", it said on X.

Lebanon's health ministry said an Israeli air strike on Friday killed the director of Dar al-Amal hospital in the east of the country near Baalbek and six of his colleagues.

A ministry statement announced the "loss of Dr Ali Rakan Allam, director of Dar al-Amal University Hospital, and six colleagues in a cowardly Israeli attack which targeted his residence near the hospital". It also denounced "continual Israeli aggression against medical staff and facilities".

The air strike happened in Douris, just south of the city of Baalbek.

معلومات أولية عن استش.هاد مدير مستش�ى دار الأمل الجامعي �ي دورس علي علام وعدد من المواطنين كانو بر�قته،
ان السيد علام من خيرة ابناء بعلبك، وخدماته من خلال المستش�ى والتي تعتبر الأهم �ي المنطقة، لا تعد ولا تحصى.
يا ضيعان الأوادم

— Bachir Khodr (@BachirKhodr)

US President Joe Biden and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron discussed on Friday efforts towards a ceasefire in Lebanon, under Israeli bombardment, the White House said.

"They reviewed developments in Ukraine as well as in the Middle East, to include efforts to secure a ceasefire deal in Lebanon that will allow residents on both sides of the Blue Line to return safely to their homes," it said in a statement.

Israeli attacks killed 59 people and wounded 112 others in Lebanon on Thursday, bringing the total number of those killed since the fighting began on 8 October last year to 3,645 and more than 15,000 wounded, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

Much of the civilian death toll has been since the Israeli escalation began in mid-September.

Israeli forces have launched strikes across the Gaza Strip, with medical sources telling news publication Al Jazeera English at least 38 deaths since dawn.

Israel's military has opened an inquiry into how a uniformed 70-year-old researcher was found dead in a south Lebanon combat zone.

Zeev Erlich, a keen researcher of archaeology and columnist for a right-wing newspaper, was killed on Wednesday "in combat" which also saw the death of a 20-year-old non-commissioned officer, the military said in a statement.

It said later he had been a reservist.

A statement from the military on Thursday said: "The military police have opened an inquiry into the circumstances of the incident in which reserve commander Zeev (Jabo) Hanoch Erlich was taken onto the battlefield where he met his death."

Military radio said preliminary investigation had uncovered a "breach of protocol", and that Erlich had entered Lebanon "without the necessary authorisation".

A photograph of a helmeted, smiling and glasses-wearing Erlich with a bushy white moustache made the front pages of several dailies, which asked what he was doing in the ruins of the citadel in Chamaa, several kilometres (miles) north of Lebanon's demarcation line with Israel.

An expert on the Israeli right told news agency AFP Erlich may have been trying to "demonstrate that this area was inhabited by the Hebrews or Jews in the past", with the aim of claiming Israel's right to it, but that this "is a minority view".

The Yesha Council, an umbrella group representing Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, called Erlich a "pioneer of research in geography, archaeology and Jewish history of Judea and Samaria" -- as Israel calls the West Bank it occupied in 1967.

He lived in Ofra, one of the first settlements in the area.

Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right settler, praised the "love and passion" for "the secrets... of the land of Israel" of Erlich, who was largely unknown outside nationalist circles.

A senior UNRWA official, Natalie Boucly, warned on Friday that looting and lawlessness are exacerbating the humanitarian disaster in Gaza.

She stated that the ongoing Gaza conflict is making the region increasingly uninhabitable.

Boucly also highlighted that arrest warrants for senior Israeli politicians and a Hamas leader, issued by an international tribunal, signal a future reckoning for the suffering in Gaza.

"Basically the entire population of Gaza are in desperate need of assistance amid a looming famine," said Boucly, UNRWA's deputy commissioner-general, programs and partnerships.

"Gaza has become uninhabitable," she added, stating that the brutal war demonstated the wrongs of humanity.

"There has to be accountability for all the grave violations of international law that are occurring. The issuance of the ICC arrest warrants yesterday against three individuals is the start of that accountability."

G7 ministers meeting in Italy next week will discuss the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Friday, saying the issue required further analysis.

After her defence minister said Thursday that Italy would have to arrest Israel's premier if he visited, Meloni said she would "delve deeper" into the ICC's decision and it would be on the agenda of a meeting of Group of Seven foreign ministers in Fiuggi, near Rome, on Monday and Tuesday.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein warned of escalating regional threats, specifically from Israel, and announced that the government has taken both military and diplomatic measures to address them.

He stated that Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani has directed the armed forces to act against any attacks originating from Iraqi territory, emphasising that the region is "under fire."

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has revealed that 2024 is now the deadliest year for humanitarian workers on record.

A total of 281 aid workers have been killed, driven by Israel's war on Gaza.

“States and parties to conflict must protect humanitarians," Tom Fletcher UN Relief chief said in a statement.

🚨 2024 is now humanitarians' deadliest year on record, driven by the war in Gaza.

281 aid workers have been killed, more than any year before.

“States and parties to conflict must protect humanitarians," urges .

Our press release:

— UN Humanitarian (@UNOCHA)

Several Palestinians suffocated by tear gas during a raid by the Israeli army in Nablus, local sources told Wafa.

Sources said the forces stormed the town of Qasra and fired live rounds and tear gas canisters at residents' homes, where several people suffocated after inhaling the tear gas.

The same thing happened in Osarin, where medical and local sources also said the army fired canisters there.

Israeli air strikes hit south Beirut on Friday and crumpled an 11-storey building, official media reported and AFP images showed, after Israeli military evacuation warnings.

The latest raids follow intense Israeli attacks in recent days on south Beirut as well as other areas in Lebanon's south and east, where Israel says it has been targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.

Israeli strikes on Friday also hit south Lebanon, the National News Agency (NNA) said, as the Israeli military issued warnings for part of the coastal city of Tyre and swathes of nearby areas, as well as several other locations in the country's south.

The state-run NNA said Israeli warplanes launched strikes on two buildings just inside Beirut's southern suburbs, near the centre of the capital.

Two rockets struck the UNIFIL base in Chamaa, southern Lebanon, injuring four Italian peacekeepers, Italy's Defence Ministry reported.

The attack caused infrastructure damage and shattered glass, wounding the soldiers.

Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto condemned the incident, calling it "intolerable" and urging Lebanese and Israeli authorities to ensure UNIFIL troops are not targeted.

He has also announced plans to request Israel’s defence minister to avoid using UN bases as shields.

UNIFIL has operated in southern Lebanon since 2006 to prevent hostilities.

The Gaza government's health ministry warned Friday all hospitals in Gaza would have to stop or reduce services "within 48 hours" for lack of fuel, blaming Israel for blocking its entry.

"We raise an urgent warning as all hospitals in Gaza Strip will stop working or reduce their services within 48 hours due to the occupation's (Israel's) obstruction of fuel entry," Marwan al-Hams, director of Gaza's field hospitals, said during a press conference.

The British government indicted on Friday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could be arrested on an International Criminal Court arrest warrant if he travelled to the UK.

"The UK will always comply with its legal obligations as set out by domestic law and indeed international law," said Prime Minister Keir Starmer's spokesman, refusing to be drawn specifically on Netanyahu's case.

Ten pro-Palestine NGOs have urged a Dutch court to block arms exports to Israel and trade with Israeli settlements, citing civilian casualties in Gaza.

The plaintiffs argue that the Netherlands, as a signatory to the 1948 Genocide Convention, is obligated to prevent genocide.

Lawyer Wout Albers, representing groups such as Al Haq and Al Mezan, criticised Dutch military cooperation with Israel, calling for an immediate halt.

The case, heard in The Hague, references a January ruling by the International Court of Justice ordering Israel to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza.

The NGOs highlight the high civilian toll and destruction, alleging genocide is occurring.

They also cited International Criminal Court arrest warrants issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a former defence minister over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

The Dutch government’s lawyers called for the case to be dismissed, arguing foreign policy decisions towards Israel fall outside judicial jurisdiction.

Lawyer Reimer Veldhuis stated the Netherlands does not contribute to attacks on Gaza or the maintenance of settlements.

Five medics were killed in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon on Friday, the Lebanese health ministry said.

The ministry said three medics were killed and three others were wounded when they were targeted in an Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese town of Qotrani.

An earlier Israeli strike on a vehicle had killed two medics in southern Lebanese town of Deir Qanoun Ras Al-Ain, the ministry had said.

Israel sent ground forces into south Lebanon on Oct. 1 as part of its stepped-up offensive against Hezbollah.

It says its aim is to secure the return home of tens of thousands of people evacuated from Israel's north due to rocket attacks by the Iran-backed group, which opened fireat the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.

A spokesman for the UN peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL told news agency The Associated Press that they are monitoring "heavy clashes" in the coastal town of Naqoura and the village of Chamaa to the northeast.

UNIFIL’s headquarters are located in Naqoura in Lebanon’s southern edge close to the border with Israel.

"We are aware of heavy shelling in the vicinity of our bases," UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti said.

Asked if the peacekeepers and staff at the headquarters are safe, Tenenti said: "Yes for the moment."

Several UNIFIL posts have been hit since Israel began its ground invasion of Lebanon on October 1, leaving a number of peacekeepers wounded.

The fighting came a day after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and a Hamas military leader, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity over their 13-month war in Gaza and the October 2023 attack on Israel respectively.

Benjamin Netanyahu would be detained if he arrives in Ireland, prime minister Simon Harris said on Friday after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant.

Asked by state broadcaster RTE if Ireland would arrest the Israeli prime minister if he came to Ireland, Harris said: "Yes, absolutely."

"We support international courts and we apply their warrants," he added.

Harris told RTE that Ireland would also execute the warrant against Deif. The ICC has not been able to determine whether he was dead or alive.

Relations between Ireland and Israel have deteriorated since Dublin recognised the Palestinian state last May, a move that prompted Israel to recall its ambassador.

Ireland's foreign minister Micheal Martin said Friday he disagreed with US President Joe Biden's depiction of the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant as "outrageous".

Martin told Newstalk radio that war crimes have been committed in Gaza.

"It's a collective punishment of the people... it's genocidal," he said.

A Syria war monitor said on Friday that Israeli strikes on the city of Palmyra this week killed 92 pro-Iran fighters, after a United Nations representative said they were likely the deadliest to date.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Wednesday's attack targeted three sites in Palmyra, with one hitting a meeting of pro-Iranian groups that also involved commanders from Iraq's Al-Nujaba group and Lebanon's Hezbollah.

The toll has risen to "92 dead: 61 Syrian pro-Iran fighters", 11 of them working for Hezbollah, "and 27 foreign nationals mostly from Al-Nujaba, plus four from Hezbollah", the Observatory said.

The Britain-based war monitor, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria, had previously reported 82 dead, while the Syria defence ministry on Wednesday said 36 people were killed.

The UN deputy special envoy to Syria, Najat Rochdi, told the Security Council on Thursday that the raid was "likely the deadliest Israeli strike in Syria to date".

The Observatory said the strikes also targeted "a weapons depot near the industrial area" in Palmyra, a modern city adjacent to globally renowned Greco-Roman ruins.

Since civil war erupted in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in the country, mainly targeting the army and Iran-backed groups.

Israel rarely comments on individual strikes in Syria but has repeatedly said it will not allow Iran to expand its presence in the country.

BREAKING:

Israel just dropped bombs on residential areas in Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra, slaughtering 36 innocents and wounding countless others.

This is a cold-blooded massacre of civilians.

Yet, not a peep from the international community.

— sarah (@sahouraxo)

France on Friday toned down its reaction to a decision by the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants for Israeli officials saying it took note of the decision, which was not a ruling, just a formalisation of an accusation.

"France takes note of this decision. True to its long-standing commitment to supporting international justice, it reiterates its attachment to the independent work of the Court, in accordance with the Rome Statute," Foreign Ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine said in a statement.

Lemoine on Thursday had said France's response would be in line with the principles of the Rome Statute, but had declined to say whether Paris would arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he came to France, saying it was legally complicated. 

Slovenia will respect arrest warrants for Israel and Hamas leaders issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and "will fully comply", Prime Minister Robert Golob was quoted as saying by Slovenian news agency STA late on Thursday.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants on Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence chief, as well as Hamas leader Ibrahim Al-Masri (Mohammed Deif), for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza conflict.

Slovenia became in June the latest European Union country to recognise an independent Palestinian state after its parliament approved the move with majority vote.

The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Friday described the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a former defence minister as the "end and political death" of Israel, in a speech.

"This means the end and political death of the Zionist regime, a regime that today lives in absolute political isolation in the world and its officials can no longer travel to other countries," Revolutionary Guards chief General Hossein Salami said in the speech aired on state TV.

Israeli authorities will stop holding Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank under administrative detention, or incarceration without trial, the defence ministry announced Friday.

The practice, used against Palestinians and Israelis who may be deemed security threats, "is inappropriate" for Israel to employ against settlers who "face severe Palestinian terror threats and unjustified international sanctions", said Defence Minister Israel Katz in a statement, adding that prosecution or "other preventive measures" would be used to deal with criminal acts in the West Bank.

Germany is "examining" how to respond to the International Criminal Court's decision to issue an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Friday.

"We are now of course examining exactly what that means for implementation in Germany," Baerbock told public broadcaster ARD.

Whether German authorities would move to arrest Netanyahu or former Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant, who also had a warrant issued against him, is currently "theoretical", Baerbock said.

Germany is "bound by" the court as a country which recognises the body and respects international law, she said.

Cyprus, which has close ties with Israel, considers arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) as binding in principle, a government source told news agency Reuters on Friday.

The ICC on Thursday issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a former Israeli defence minister and a leader of the Palestinian group Hamas for alleged crimes against humanity.

"The decision is being studied and we have no comment on that. As a matter of principle, the decisions of the International Criminal Court are both respected, and binding," said the government source, requesting anonymity. 

Two medics were killed in an Israeli strike targeting a vehicle in southern Lebanese town of Deir Qanoun Ras Al-Ain, the Lebanese health ministry said on Friday.

Strikes hit the southern suburbs of Beirut on Friday shortly after the Israeli army called for the evacuation of certain neighbourhoods, as shown by footage from news agency AFP.

In addition to the suburbs of the Lebanese capital, the Israeli army called overnight for the evacuation of several areas in the south of the country.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, on Friday said he would invite Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu to visit and defy an ICC arrest warrant.

Orban called the ICC's decision "outrageously brazen and "cynical", saying it "intervenes in an ongoing conflict... dressed up as a legal decision, but in fact for political purposes".

"There is no choice here, we have to defy this decision," the nationalist leader said in his weekly interview with state radio.

"Later today, I will invite the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr. Netanyahu, to visit Hungary, where I will guarantee him, if he comes, that the judgment of the International Criminal Court will have no effect in Hungary, and that we will not follow its terms," he added.

Hungary signed the Rome Statute, the international treaty that created the ICC, in 1999 and ratified it two years later during Orban's first term in office.

However, Budapest has not promulgated the associated convention for reasons of constitutionality and therefore asserts that it is not obliged to comply with ICC decisions.

The Israeli military said on Friday it had "eliminated" five Hamas fighters, including two commanders, in an overnight raid in northern Gaza's Beit Lahia.

In a statement, the military and the Shin Bet security agency said they had "eliminated five Hamas [operatives], including a Nukhba (commando) company commander and an additional company commander who participated in the October 7 massacre" that sparked the Gaza war last year, adding that the slain fighters had "led the murders and kidnappings in the area of Mefalsim", a kibbutz in southern Israel.

China urged the International Criminal Court on Friday to remain objective and fair after it issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"China hopes the ICC will uphold an objective and just position (and) exercise its powers in accordance with the law," foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a regular press conference in response to a question about the court's warrant for Netanyahu.

China, which like Israel and the United States is not a member of the ICC, said it "supports any efforts by the international community on the Palestinian issue that are conducive to achieving fairness and justice and upholding the authority of international law".

Lin also accused the United States of "double standards" in response to a question about the US opposition to the court's pursuit of Netanyahu, but its support for a warrant against Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

"China consistently opposes certain countries only use international law when it suits them... and engaging in double standards," Lin said.