Britain halts efforts to challenge ICC jurisdiction over Israeli leaders

LONDON (AA) – The UK has said that it would not proceed with efforts to question whether the International Criminal Court (ICC) has jurisdiction to issue arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister and defense minister, according to local media.

The ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan announced in May that he had requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over war crimes.

Court documents made public in June revealed that Britain, an ICC member state, had initially filed a request to provide written observations on whether the court could exercise jurisdiction over Israeli nationals, given that Palestine cannot exercise criminal jurisdiction over Israeli nationals under the Oslo Accords.

Since then, Britain has elected a new government led by the Labour Party.

According to the Guardian, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesperson confirmed that the previous government had not submitted its proposal before the July 4 election.

“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,” the spokesperson told reporters.

Israel has killed nearly 39,200 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured over 90,400, according to local health authorities.

After over nine months of Israeli attacks, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.