Labour government says it will not pursue questions on court’s jurisdiction over Netanyahu and Gallant
Reuters
Britain has said it will not proceed with efforts to question whether the international criminal court (ICC) has jurisdiction to issue arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the defence minister, Yoav Gallant.
In May, the ICC chief 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 the 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 longstanding position that this is a matter for the court to decide on,” the spokesperson told reporters.