LONDON
\nThe UK\u2019s new government will drop its challenge to arrest warrants sought by an international court\u2019s prosecutor for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Downing Street confirmed on Friday.
\nFormer prime minister Rishi Sunak\u2019s government had told the International Criminal Court (ICC) it intended to submit a challenge to prosecutor Karim Khan\u2019s request in May for arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his defense minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes in Gaza.
\nThe UK had until Friday to submit its questions to the court in The Hague, but the recently elected Labour government has confirmed it will not follow through with Sunak\u2019s plan.
\n\u201cThis was a proposal by the previous government which was not submitted before the election, and which I can confirm the government will not be pursuing in line with our long standing position that this is a matter for the court to decide on,\u201d a Downing Street spokeswoman said.
\n\u201cI think you would note that the courts have already received a number of submissions on either side, so they are well seized of the arguments to make their independent determinations,\u201d she added.
\nLabour under former human rights lawyer Keir Starmer swept to power on July 4, defeating the Tories in a landslide general election win.
\nIt has since announced the resumption of funding for the main UN agency for Palestinian refugees that had been paused under Sunak after Israeli claims that UNRWA members took part in the October 7 attacks against Israel.
\nLabour wants an immediate ceasefire in Israel\u2019s war with Hamas militants in Gaza and the release of hostages.
\nIsrael\u2019s top ally the United States is still set to challenge the court\u2019s authority to issue arrest warrants against Netanyahu.
\nAs well as Netanyahu and Gallant, Khan is also seeking warrants against top Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and Mohammed Deif, on suspicion of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
\nIf granted by ICC judges, any of the 124 ICC member states would technically be obliged to arrest Netanyahu and others if they traveled there.
\nHowever, the court has no mechanism to enforce its orders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON The UK\u2019s new government will drop its challenge to arrest warrants sought by an international court\u2019s prosecutor for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Downing Street confirmed on Friday. Former prime minister Rishi Sunak\u2019s government had told the International Criminal Court (ICC) it intended to submit a challenge to prosecutor Karim Khan\u2019s request in May […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421002,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-420966","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n