The International Criminal Court prosecutor said he will not be intimidated by threats as his office probes possible war crimes in Ukraine and Gaza.

During a UN Security Council meeting on his probe into war crimes in Libya, prosecutor Karim Khan was challenged by the ambassadors of Russia and Libya, who criticized what they called his inaction as Israel wages war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

"One wonders if the effectiveness of the ICC on this track is affected by the fact that a new bipartisan bill has been submitted to the US Congress to sanction ICC officials involved in investigating not only the US but also its allies," said the Russian ambassador Vasily Nebenzia.

Nebenzia was alluding to news reports that a bill to this end has been submitted to the US Congress.

Khan responded by citing what he said were threats against him and his office to make him halt his probes.

"We will not be swayed, whether it's by warrants for my arrest or the arrest of elected officials of the court by the Russian Federation, or whether it's by other elected officials in any other jurisdiction," Khan said.

In May of last year Russia put Kahn on its list of wanted persons after the court issued an arrest warrant against President Vladimir Putin for his role in the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia as part of the war.

In early May Kahn's office said on X that the court's "independence and impartiality are undermined, however, when individuals threaten to retaliate against the court or against court personnel."

It did not say where the threats are coming from.

"Such threats, even not acted upon, may constitute an offence" against the ICC's "administration of justice," the office warned, calling for an end to such activity.

The court made this comment after US and Israeli media reports which suggested the ICC prosecutor could issue warrants against Israeli politicians including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leaders.

"We have a duty to stand up for justice, to stand up for victims," Kahn said Tuesday.

"And I am fully cognizant that there are Goliaths in this room. There are Goliaths with power, with influence" he said.

He added: "We have something called the law. All I can do is say that we will stand up to the best of our ability. We will stand up by the law with integrity with independence."

At least 34 people, including two babies were killed when a contraband fuel depot exploded into flames in southern Benin near the border with Nigeria on Saturday.

According to Beninese Interior Minister Alassane Seidou, “a serious fire occurred in the town of Seme Podji. Another 20 people were seriously wounded in the incident.”

"I can't really give you the cause of the fire, but there is a large gasoline warehouse here and cars, tricycles and motorcycles come from morning to evening,” he added.

Nigeria is a main oil and gas producer where fuel smuggling is very common along its borders, particularly when the government maintains a subsidy to keep fuel prices low.

The majority of the victims were burnt and they could not be not be identified.

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