UK will not oppose right of ICC to issue arrest warrant for Netanyahu

Sir Keir Starmer's Labour government will not pursue an objection to the International Criminal Court (ICC) issuing an arrest warrant for Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Prosecutor Karim Khan KC applied for arrest warrants to be issued for Israel's prime minister and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar over alleged war crimes earlier this year.

But under Rishi Sunak's Tory government, the UK had considered challenging the right of the ICC to issue arrest warrants for Mr Netanyahu and Israel's defence minister, Yoav Gallant.

A Number 10 spokesperson said the government would not be pursuing the previous government's objection because it was matter for the court to decide on.

They said the government's decision as neither an objection or endorsement of the ICC's case against Mr Netanyahu.

"The government believes strongly in the rule of law and separation of powers," they said, adding that the court should make independent decisions.

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Mr Khan said he was issuing the arrest warrants because he believed "we must collectively demonstrate that international humanitarian law, the foundational baseline for human conduct during conflict, applies to all individuals and applies equally across the situations addressed by my office and the court".

"This is how we will prove, tangibly, that the lives of all human beings have equal value," he added.

The prosecutor said he also had reasonable grounds to believe the leaders of Hamas "bear criminal responsibility" for "war crimes and crimes against humanity".

He outlined a list of alleged crimes, including murder, taking hostages and rape and other acts of sexual violence.

Shortly after the arrest warrants were issued, Mr Netanyahu said he rejected "with disgust" the Hague prosecutor's comparison between democratic Israel and the mass murderers of Hamas.