The UK has indicated that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be arrested if he were to set foot on British soil after an international arrest warrant was issued for him.
A spokesman for Downing Street refused to comment on the specific case but said the government would fulfil its “legal obligations”.
“The UK will always comply with its legal obligations as set out by domestic law, and indeed international law” a spokesman for Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters on Friday.
Earlier in the week, the Haque based International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrent for Netanyahu along with Israel’s former defence minister Yoav Gallant, over alleged war crimes in Gaza.
RT reports: Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said it “wouldn’t be appropriate” for her to comment on the warrant, as the ICC is an independent institution.
“We’ve always respected the importance of international law, but in the majority of the cases that they pursue, they don’t become part of the British legal process,” she told Sky News. “What I can say is that obviously, the UK government’s position remains that we believe the focus should be on getting a ceasefire in Gaza.”
Emily Thornberry, the Labour MP who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee, was more direct when she spoke to the outlet, however.
“If Netanyahu comes to Britain, our obligation under the Rome Convention would be to arrest him under the warrant from the ICC,” said Thornberry. “Not really a question of should, we are required to because we are members of the ICC.”
Israel “rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions leveled against it by ICC,” Netanyahu’s office has said. The US “fundamentally rejects” the decision and is “deeply concerned” by the “troubling process errors” that led to it, a spokesperson for the National Security Council said on Thursday.
So far, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Belgium, and Norway have announced they would comply with the ICC warrant, while France has said the warrant is legitimate but actually arresting the Israeli leader would be “legally complex.”
По материалам: http://www.planet-today.com/2024/11/uk-says-it-would-comply-with-icc.html