The UK Labor government will comply with the decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant, if they arrive in the country and the measure is approved by the national court, a representative of the office of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said.
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Earlier on Thursday, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Galant for alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip. The court also rejected arguments by Israel, which sought to challenge the court’s jurisdiction to issue warrants against its citizens. Israel also challenged the ICC’s jurisdiction to hear cases related to the situation in Palestine as a whole.
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“The government will comply with its legal obligations,” the prime minister’s spokesman said, as quoted by the Times newspaper.
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A government spokesman added that Starmer would comply with the ICC decision once the order is ratified by a UK court.
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This decision was criticized by conservatives, who during their rule opposed the ICC investigation and sought its termination. Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel called on the Labor government to condemn and challenge the ICC decision.
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In May, ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said he was applying to the Pre-Trial Chamber to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Galant. In a statement, he noted that they are responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity that were committed during the current military campaign in the Gaza Strip, which began in October 2023.
