July 26 (UPI) — Britain confirmed Friday it has dropped objections to arrest warrants for Israeli leaders Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant sought by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Gaza.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office confirmed the new Labor Party government would not challenge the ICC’s jurisdiction as it seeks the arrest warrants, The Guardian first reported.
“I can confirm the government will not be pursuing that in line with our longstanding position that this is a matter for the court to decide on,” Starmer’s deputy official spokesperson told The Guardian.
The ICC is also seeking war crime arrest warrants for three top Hamas leaders.
The Times of Israel, citing a senior Israeli official speaking to reporters in Washington prior to Britain’s confirmation on dropping its objections said, “Israel is deeply disappointed by this fundamentally wrong decision.”
The Israeli official added that Britain’s decision “is contrary to justice and truth and violates the right of all democracies to fight terrorism.”
ICC prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan announced he was applying for the warrants in May, alleging that Netanyahu and Gallant committed war crimes “including using starvation as warfare, willfully causing suffering to civilians, intentionally attacking and directing attacks against civilians, extermination, persecution and “other inhumane acts.”
He said collected evidence justify the warrants.
Khan also applied for warrants against Hamas leaders Yahya Siwar, head of Hamas in Gaza, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, commander of Hamas’s military wing, and Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas’s political bureau.
The Biden administration called the ICC warrants against Israeli leaders “outrageous.”
All three Hamas leaders, Khan said, were responsible for war crimes including extermination, murder, taking hostages, torture, other inhumane acts, cruel treatment of prisoners outrage upon personal dignity against captives.
The decision comes as Britain’s Labor Party takes control of the government after former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called for elections that saw his Conservative Party lose power.