After the Israeli Prime Minister was issued an international arrest warrant for “war crimes” in Gaza, Downing Street refused to rule out that Benjamin Netanyahu would be detained if he travelled to Britain.
The International Criminal Court, which Foreign Secretary David Lammy last month said the UK ‘supports’, today issued warrants for Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant, as well as the leader of Hamas.
Israelis were outraged when a lawsuit accusing them of crimes against humanity was announced. Netanyahu denounced what he claimed was a misleading comparison between himself and the leader of the terror group.
Today’s No 10 also stated that Israel has the right to self-defence and that there is no “moral equivalence” between the democratically elected Israeli leader and terrorist commanders.
However, when asked if Mr Netanyahu was at risk of arrest if he made a state visit to Britain, the PM’s spokesman refused to discuss ‘hypothetical’ situations, adding that the government ‘respects the independence’ of the court.
It is acknowledged that the ICC warrant would not be enforceable unless it were approved by a UK court.
Last month Mr Lammy told MPs Labour ‘continues to support the ICC’, adding: ‘Both the ICC and the ICJ should be able to go about their work unfettered by political intervention.’
Attorney General Lord Hermer used a newspaper interview to say the government would not do ‘anything that undermines the work of the ICC’ and would ‘comply with our lawful obligations.’
Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel said the warrant was ‘deeply concerning and provocative’, adding: ‘The Labour Government must condemn and challenge the ICC’s decision.’
Israeli authorities dispute the warrants, which target Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant and centre on claims that Israel has used food as a weapon in its assault against Hamas in Gaza.
According to experts, famine may have struck in the northern part of the enclave, which is under blockade by Israeli soldiers, and hunger has spread across Gaza.
The move by the International Criminal Court came as the death toll from Israel’s campaign in Gaza passed 44,000 people, according to local health authorities, who say more than half of those slain were women and children.
They do not distinguish between fighters and civilians in their count.
Netanyahu condemned the arrest warrant against him, saying Israel ‘rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions’ by the court. In a statement released by his office, he said: ‘There is nothing more just than the war that Israel has been waging in Gaza.’
In addition to making Netanyahu and the others globally sought suspects, the ruling may further isolate them and make cease-fire negotiations more difficult.
It seems that the UK government are so caught up in other countries’ wars that they have completely forgotten about the country they’re supposed to represent.
The UK people are of so little importance that they see us as either a problem or just a cash cow. We are so overdue for change because things have reached a tipping point.
It seems that Starmer is not satisfied with destroying ties with the US and Russia, the two nuclear-armed countries; he now wants to destroy ties with Israel, the third and additional ally.
It’s not because our administration has forgotten us, in my opinion; rather, they just don’t give a damn and consider anything to be a nice diversion.
Whoever said that money talks was right, but it just doesn’t talk, it swears at the common man.
Our Labour UK government and the Tory one before it are complicit in Israeli war crimes. We’ve been sending them components to keep their war machine going, together with the political support internationally, but then we always do what the US tells us to do – extremely sad that our government can’t think for themselves.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 