The British government must make clear its commitment to act on arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) welcomes the belated decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue arrest warrants for the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Yoav Gallant, the former Minister of Defence for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed since October 2023. In its public statement, the ICC says there are reasonable grounds to believe that both men bear criminal responsibility for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare, the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts, and the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population.
The ICC further states ‘that there are reasonable grounds to believe that both individuals intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity’. Disgracefully, Keir Starmer initially argued that Israel had a ‘right’ to carry out these despicable crimes.
The British government has previously stated its support for the independence of the ICC. It must now publicly reiterate its commitment to implement these arrest warrants and make clear to Netanyahu and Gallant that they will be arrested if they ever set foot in Britain.
These arrest warrants must only be the start. All those responsible for Israel’s crimes against humanity and war crimes must be held to account. Israel is currently standing trial for genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the world court has already ruled that Israel is guilty of the crime against humanity of apartheid.
It is long past time for the British government to act. This announcement places Britain in the grotesque position of continuing to sell weapons and provide diplomatic support to a state which is not only on trial for genocide but is led by a man who from today is a fugitive from international justice. The government must immediately end all arms trade with Israel and apply meaningful sanctions to bring an end to Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people.