Sir Keir Starmer has backed the International Criminal Court after it issued an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu, meaning the Israeli Prime Minister faces possible arrest if he enters the UK.
Downing Street said the Government respected the independence of the ICC after the warrants were issued for Mr Netanyahu and his defence secretary Yoav Gallant, as well as a Hamas leader.
Issuing the warrants on Thursday lunchtime, the ICC accused them of war crimes and crimes against humanity over their 13-month war in Gaza, and the October 2023 attack on Israel respectively.
The UK would be under a legal obligation to arrest Mr Netanyahu should he enter UK territory, but the decision would first need to confirmed by a British court.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said the ICC, based in The Hague, was “the primary international institution for investigating and prosecuting the most serious crimes of international concern”.
“This Government has been clear that Israel has a right to defend itself in accordance with international law,” they said.
“There is no moral equivalence between Israel, a democracy, and Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah, which are terrorist organisations.
“We remain focused on pushing for an immediate ceasefire to bring an end to the devastating violence in Gaza which is essential to protect civilians, ensure the release of hostages, and to increase humanitarian aid into Gaza.”
Asked if Mr Netanyahu would be arrested if he came to the UK, the spokesman said: “We are not going to get into hypotheticals.”
Mr Netanyahu condemned the arrest warrant against him, saying Israel "rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions."
In a statement released by his office, he said: "There is nothing more just than the war that Israel has been waging in Gaza."
The decision turns Netanyahu and the others into internationally wanted suspects and is likely to further isolate them and complicate efforts to negotiate a ceasefire to end the fighting.
But its practical implications could be limited since Israel and its major ally, the United States, are not members of the court, and two of the Hamas officials are understood to have been killed in the conflict.
Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders have condemned ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan's request for warrants as disgraceful and antisemitic.
US President Joe Biden blasted the prosecutor and expressed support for Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas.
The Hague-based ICC said there are “reasonable grounds” to believe Netanyahu and Gallant had overseen attacks on civilians.
It said crimes alleged against Netanyahu and Gallant included using starvation as a tool of war.
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog described the ICC’s decision to issue the warrants for the President and Gallant as “absurd”.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called the decision a "mark of shame" for the ICC, while Israel's main opposition leader Yair Lapid also denounced the move, calling it "a reward for terrorism".
Palestinian militant group Hamas however welcomed the International Criminal Court's arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.
"We call on the International Criminal Court to expand the scope of accountability to all criminal occupation leaders," the group said in a statement.
The ICC has also issued arrest warrants for Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri - also known as Mohammed Deif - one of the leaders of Hamas, over the October 2023 attacks that triggered Israel's offensive in Gaza.
The ICC chief prosecutor withdrew his request for warrants for two other senior Hamas figures, Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh, after they were both killed in the conflict.
Israel has said it killed Al-Masri in an airstrike but Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied this.
Israeli and Hamas leaders have dismissed allegations that they have committed war crimes.
The ICC does not have its own police force to carry out arrests and instead relies on its member states for that. ICC members include all European Union countries, Britain, Japan, Brazil, Australia and Canada, and in the Middle East region the Palestinian territories and Jordan.
Israel has previously rejected the ICC’s jurisdiction, but the court said Israel's acceptance of its jurisdiction was not required.
