![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6939697.1719286227!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Top Cats: Panthers win their 1st Stanley Cup, top Oilers 2-1 in Game 7
The Florida Panthers are Stanley Cup champions for the first time in franchise history, defeating the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.
The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court rounded off a historic first visit to Israel and Ramallah by posting video and written messages on Sunday, saying that a probe by the court into possible crimes by Hamas militants and Israeli forces "is a priority for my office."
In a video message from Ramallah, where he met with top Palestinian leaders, Prosecutor Karim Khan said the investigation that was launched in 2021 is "moving forward at pace, with rigor, with determination and with an insistence that we act not on emotion but on solid evidence."
There have been widespread claims of breaches of international law by Hamas and Israeli forces since war erupted after the deadly Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas and other militants that killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in southern Israel. Around 240 people were taken hostage.
The Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza said Saturday that the overall death toll in the strip since the start of the war had surpassed 15,200. The ministry does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths, but it said 70% of the dead were women and children. It said more than 40,000 people had been wounded since the war began.
Khan said in a written statement issued after his visit that he witnessed "scenes of calculated cruelty" at locations of the Oct. 7 attacks. During the visit, he spoke to family members of Israeli victims and called for the immediate and unconditional release of hostages taken by Hamas and other militants.
"The attacks against innocent Israeli civilians on Oct. 7 represent some of the most serious international crimes that shock the conscience of humanity, crimes which the ICC was established to address," Khan said in his written statement, adding that he and his prosecutors are working "to hold those responsible to account."
In a statement released by the Forum for Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the families thanked Khan "for the extraordinary decision to come and stand by the families in the aftermath of the horrors perpetrated by Hamas in Israel on Oct. 7 and the continued detention of hostages. We expect him to work to bring Hamas terrorists to justice for crimes against humanity and genocide."
Khan said he is ready to engage with local prosecutors in line with the principle of complementarity -- the ICC is a court of last resort set up to prosecute war crimes when local courts cannot or will not take action. Israel is not a member state of the court and does not recognize its jurisdiction.
Khan also visited Palestinian officials in Ramallah, including President Mahmoud Abbas, and spoke to Palestinian victims. He said of the war in Gaza that fighting in "densely populated areas where fighters are alleged to be unlawfully embedded in the civilian population is inherently complex, but international humanitarian law must still apply and the Israeli military knows the law that must be applied."
He said that Israel "has trained lawyers who advise commanders and a robust system intended to ensure compliance with international humanitarian law. Credible allegations of crimes during the current conflict should be the subject of timely, independent examination and investigation."
In his video message, Khan also said that humanitarian aid must be allowed into Gaza.
"In Gaza, it is not acceptable -- there's no justification -- for doctors to perform operations without light, for children to be operated upon without anesthetics," he said. "Imagine the pain of operations on children, on anybody, on any of us, without anesthetics. I also emphasized that Hamas must not divert any aid that's given."
Khan also expressed "profound concern" at what he called "the significant increase in incidents of attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.
"I emphasize, settler violence is unacceptable," he said in his video. "It's something we are investigating. We have been investigating and we are accelerating investigations. No Israeli settler armed with an ideology and a gun can think it's open season on Palestinians."
Khan said he would seek to work with "all actors" in the conflict to "ensure that when action is taken by my office it is done on the basis of objective, verifiable evidence which can stand scrutiny in the courtroom and ensure that when we do proceed we have a realistic prospect of conviction."
The Florida Panthers are Stanley Cup champions for the first time in franchise history, defeating the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid has been awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the NHL playoffs after an incredible post-season that finished just short of a Stanley Cup.
Conservative Don Stewart took a late lead to win the Toronto -- St. Paul's byelection. With all polls reporting early Tuesday morning, Stewart won by 590 votes over Liberal Leslie Church in an upset win for Pierre Poilievre and his Conservatives.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will plead guilty to a felony charge in a deal with the U.S. Justice Department that will allow him to walk free and resolve a long-running legal saga that spanned multiple continents and centred on the publication of a trove of classified documents.
New projections by Statistics Canada suggest the nation's population could reach 63 million by 2073.
In light of the news that Princess Anne's trip this week to Canada was cancelled because of an injury, royal commentator Afua Hagan looks at the princess's contributions as a royal figure that extend far beyond traditional ceremonials.
A 14-year-old boy has been charged in connection with a “mass shooting” outside a school in Etobicoke earlier this month that took the lives of two men and wounded three others, police say.
Speaker Randy Weekes officially tendered his resignation from the Saskatchewan Party Government Caucus – following an extended saga that saw Weekes accuse government MLAs of harassment.
A fourth teen accused in the fatal stabbing of a Toronto homeless man has pleaded guilty.
The Ontario elementary school that Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid once attended is abuzz with excitement ahead of Monday night’s Stanley Cup Final.
For the first time in two years, a model of the RMS Titanic will return to the Halifax Public Gardens, thanks in part to public demand.
A decision to quietly remove a decades-old Heritage Minute on Louis Riel has left some in the Métis community scratching their heads, as questions are raised about how Canada's history is portrayed.
There's a changing of the guard at Victim Services Toronto, as one trauma dog hangs up her harness and another reports for duty.
The Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP) out of Western University in Ontario confirmed that five tornadoes touched down in Quebec during the June 13 storm, bringing the total number of tornadoes in the project to six.
A Superior Court judge has ordered the Quebec government to pay taxi drivers $143 million in compensation for its decision to abolish their permits nearly five years ago.
Honciuc Menendez is barely old enough to get a driver’s licence but on Friday he’ll officially graduate from the University of Toronto with distinction.
Police say a deer gained entry to a basement apartment in Ottawa's west end this week and refused to leave.
A Calgary woman who recently had a health scare is looking to make contact with a woman in her neighbourhood who helped get her to hospital.