London:

The British government indicated on Friday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could be arrested on an International Criminal Court warrant if he travels to Britain.

The ICC on Thursday issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yves Gallant in response to charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes in Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, which the militant Palestinian group launched on October 7. The attack on 2023 began.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Keir Starmer declined to be specifically drawn on whether UK police would detain Netanyahu, telling reporters they “will not be drawn into hypotheticals about individual matters”. .

But he added: “The UK will always comply with its legal obligations as set out by domestic law and indeed international law.”

Britain signed the Rome Statute, the international treaty that created the ICC, in 1998 and ratified it three years later.

The UK’s ICC Act 2001 stipulates that when a government minister receives a request for an arrest warrant from the ICC, they “shall transmit the request and accompanying documents to the appropriate court”.

“If the application is accompanied by a warrant of arrest and the appropriate judicial officer is satisfied that the warrant appears to have been issued by the ICC, he shall confirm the warrant of execution in the United Kingdom,” the act added.

Officials say the act has not yet been invoked because he has never been to the UK as alleged by the ICC.

It is not clear whether the UK’s legal proceedings begin after the ICC issues an arrest warrant or if it lands on British soil after an indictment is filed.

“We will clearly fulfill our obligations under the Act,” Starmer’s spokesman added.

(Other than the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu



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