LONDON

The UK government is facing calls to "unequivocally" support arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Amnesty International UK’s Chief Executive, Sacha Deshmukh, has called on the Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, and the UK government to honor their stated commitment to upholding international justice.

“In opposition, the Foreign Secretary said in government his party would comply with any arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court, and we now need to see Mr. Lammy and the whole UK government unequivocally backing this vitally important move by the ICC,” Deshmukh stated.

The ICC’s actions, Deshmukh added, underscore the need for consistency in the UK’s stance on international law.

"The UK’s standing as a genuine supporter of the rule of law requires consistency and even-handedness - if war crimes are wrong when carried out by Russian forces in unlawfully-occupied Ukraine, then they’re equally wrong when carried out by Israeli forces in unlawfully-occupied Palestinian territory," he noted.

"In compliance with their international legal obligations, the UK authorities should be prepared to make swift arrests if Benjamin Netanyahu or Yoav Gallant step foot on British soil," he added.

In a landmark move, The Hague court on Thursday announced it had issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant over war crimes in Palestinian territories, including Gaza.

The warrants come as Israel’s genocidal offensive in Gaza recently entered its second year, having already killed some 44,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and injured over 103,000 others.