Britain's new government has dropped its predecessor's plans to challenge to the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The court accuses Netanyahu of orchestrating war crimes in the invasion of Gaza, where some 38,000 civilians have so far died in the ongoing conflict. The ICC has also indicted leaders of Hamas for the October 2023 raid on Israel; some 1,200 Israelis were murdered and hundreds more kidnapped.
The previous Conservative UK government had indicated it planned to make a submission to the court, but had not done so before the election. Now, a spokesperson for the new Labour government has said it will not be making a submission, saying it is "a matter for the court". A spokesperson for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: "I think you would note that the courts have already received a number of submissions on either side, so they are well seized of the arguments to make their independent determinations."
British prosecutors have been happy to trouble similar figures in the past and the BBC says that Netanyahu "would be asked not to set foot on British soil, to avoid being arrested by the UK authorities." Netanyahu addressed the U.S. Congress earlier this week in person, though the reception was frostier than expected after a sudden shift of ground under the U.S. presidential race.
