The United Kingdom has said it will 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 Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Ednews informs via AlJazeera
“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,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesperson told reporters on Friday.
The decision puts distance between Starmer’s new Labour government and the plans of former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who had planned to challenge the warrant.
In May, ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan applied for arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant for alleged war crimes committed during Israel’s war on Gaza.
He also sought warrants for three leaders of the Palestinian group Hamas over alleged war crimes committed during the October 7 attacks on southern Israel.
