UK will not pursue ICC challenge over Netanyahu arrest warrant

Britain said today it would not proceed with efforts to question whether the International Criminal Court (ICC) has jurisdiction to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, Reuters reports.

In May, the ICC’s prosecutor said he had requested arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant and three Hamas leaders over alleged war crimes.

Court documents made public in June showed Britain, an ICC member state, had filed a request with the court to provide written observations on whether “the court can exercise jurisdiction over Israeli nationals, in circumstances where Palestine cannot exercise criminal jurisdiction over Israeli nationals [under] the Oslo Accords”.

Since then, Britain has elected a new government run by the Labour Party, and Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesperson said the previous government had not submitted its proposal before the 4 July election.

“On the ICC submission… I can confirm the government will not be pursuing [the proposal] in line with our long-standing position that this is a matter for the court to decide on,” the spokesperson told reporters.

According to reports, the US was pressuring the UK to maintain the legal challenge as it “is not a member of the ICC, and expects the UK to look after its interests there”.

Read: ICC accepts 64 filings for arrest of Israel, Hamas officials