PRO-PALESTINIAN activists occupied the entrance to the International Criminal Court in The Hague today to demand action against Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged war crimes.

This came as the Israelis continued their relentless bombardment of the Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

Dutch authorities detained 19 activists who occupied the entrance to the ICC denouncing Mr Netanyahu for Israel’s targeting of civilians in Gaza.

Activists from the Extinction Rebellion group took over a bridge in front of The Hague-based court just after noon, carrying a banner that read “Netanyahu is a war criminal.”

The Dutch branch of the climate emergency activist group has staged several other pro-Palestine actions since the uprising by Palestinian resistance fighters on October 7.

ICC spokesperson Sonia Robla said: “The demonstration did not cause any disturbance to the ICC’s normal activities.”

After police released the 19, they joined another pro-Palestine protest outside the ICC’s grounds.

Israel has widened its attacks over the last few days from Gaza to include targets in Syria and the occupied West Bank, sparking fears of the conflict spreading across the region.

Israeli warplanes have struck targets across Gaza, two airports in Syria and a mosque in the occupied West Bank which the Israelis allege were being used by militants.

Israel’s military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the country had increased air strikes across Gaza to hit targets that would reduce the risk to troops in the next stage of the war.

The Egyptian military said Israeli shelling hit a watchtower on Egypt’s side of the border, causing light injuries. 

The Israeli military apologised, saying it was an accident.

While small amounts of aid are beginning to seep into Gaza the Palestinians continue to face a dire humanitarian crisis.

Hospitals packed with patients and displaced people are running low on medical supplies and fuel for generators, forcing doctors to perform surgeries using sewing needles, resorting to vinegar as disinfectant and operating without anaesthetics.

The World Health Organisation says at least 130 premature babies are at “grave risk” because of a shortage of generator fuel. 

Shortages of critical supplies, including ventilators, are forcing doctors to ration treatment, said Dr Mohammed Qandeel, who works in Khan Younis’s Nasser Hospital. 

Dozens of patients continue to arrive and are treated in crowded, darkened corridors, as hospitals preserve electricity for intensive care units.