Responding to the International Crminal Court today issuing arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant, Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK’s Chief Executive, said:

“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.

“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.

“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.”

The International Criminal Court also announced that it has issued an arrest warrant for Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri - commonly known as “Deif” - for alleged crimes against humanity commited by Hamas. Deif has reportedly been killed by Israeli forces. In the event that he is still alive, Amnesty would strongly support his arrest and efforts to bring him to trial.