A significant policy change in the Labour Party’s direction occurred when the newly appointed Keir Starmer stated plans that the UK would cease to form an objection to an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu through the International Criminal Court (ICC). This decision, announced by the spokesman on Friday, was regarding Netanyahu coming against the declarative decision of the previous Government against the ICC prosecutor’s warrants for Netanyahu and the Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant.
In answering questions related to the ICC submission, the spokesperson said that the Government will not press for the previous objection, which conforms with our historical policy for the court to determine.
Sources briefed the Middle East Eye on Thursday, revealing that the Labour Party has in mind several measures that will be implemented about an assault on Gaza, including cutting the export of weapons licenses in Jamaica to Israel. Palestinian rights group by the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) tilted on this as a release. It encouraged the new Labour government to respect the Institute of International Court Jurisdiction and its independent working.
ICJP legal officer Zaki Sarraf said: “It is a shame that the Labour government fails to accept the ICC jurisdiction and independence while accusing an opponent of war crime What they should do now is to make sure they do not add to their list of violations of international law…”.
A preceding newspaper, Maariv, from Israel, said that Foreign Secretary David Lammy had made a statement to the effect that the UK would continue to persist with the objection that the earlier Conservative Government had taken. However, this assurance has now been overturned. Mr Finance Minister, this cut has nothing to do with efficiency.
Karim Khan accuses Netanyahu and Gallant of crimes against humanity and war crimes. Likewise, applications for arrest warrants have been made for Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip: Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, and Ismail Haniyeh. These applications must be presented before a panel of ICC judges, to which the UK had earlier filed an objection.
The UK’s Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council were highly disappointed by the Government’s decision, calling it regretful and regressive; this move angered the latter as it ceded UK policy about Israel to what the Palestinians wanted. ”Such a move would not only be tactically wrong, but it will be ethically wrong as well,” they said.
On the other hand, the Palestinian ambassador to the UK welcomed the decision, stating that it is a step in the right direction that throws the UK on the right side of the rule of law and the International system after decades of impunity on Israel’s acts.
There have been increasing demands from civil society and human rights groups pressure on Labour to suspend the arms deal with Israel. There are reports that some of the party’s minority supporters, such as the British Muslims, are discriminatory against Labour because of the party’s earlier support for the Israel operations in Gaza. Five Independent independent parliaments were elected on a Gaza response to Labour Friends of Israel, a pressure group that both Starmer and Lammy are affiliated to, criticized the new government position. Some have claimed that Netanyahu deserved to be tried in the Israeli courts instead of the ICC. In this regard, they argued that the ICC chief prosecutor lacks legal merits and moral standing to press a charge against Israel, stating that the state can investigate and prosecute its leaders just like any other country.
Civilian casualties have been raging in Gaza, and the death toll has reached more than 39,000 Palestinians, and over 90,257 other persons have been injured… There are estimated to be thousands of missing persons who are feared to have been buried alive by the Israeli operations.
