UK accused of obstructing ICC prosecution of Netanyahu
Palestinians evacuate Gaza’s Tuffah neighbourhood following Israeli attacks on 27 June 2024
Imran Mulla reports in Middle East Eye on 2 July 2024:
The UK has been accused of attempting to obstruct the prosecution of Israeli war crimes by delaying the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) decision on whether an arrest warrant can be issued against Benjamin Netanyahu.
In late May, ICC prosecutor Karim Khan filed an application for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and Mohammed Deif, for alleged war crimes.
Judges at the ICC ruled last Thursday that the UK can submit legal arguments in the case.
The UK, an ICC member state, filed a request in early June to provide written information on whether “the court can exercise jurisdiction over Israeli nationals, in circumstances where Palestine cannot exercise criminal jurisdiction over Israeli nationals [under] the Oslo Accords”, referring to the 1993 agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).
The UK argues that since Palestinian authorities do not have jurisdiction over Israeli nationals under the accords, they cannot transfer jurisdiction to the ICC.
In February 2021, a panel of ICC judges ruled that the ICC had jurisdiction in the occupied Palestinian territories. Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, told Middle East Eye: “The UK government should not be interfering in the decisions of the ICC that it has already ruled. “This forms part of an appalling record of facilitating what is almost certainly a genocide and not holding Israel to account for any of its actions.”
Oslo and the ICC’s jurisdiction
The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) has described the UK’s request in a statement as a “transparent attempt to derail the pursuit of accountability for Israeli war crimes”.