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Prime Minister Keir Starmer is to drop a UK government submission making objections to the International Criminal Court’s request for the issue of arrest warrants for Israeli leaders after a review by the new Attorney General.
Britain will no longer be challenging arrest warrant proceedings for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant in a move officials described as a shift in stance on the war in Gaza.
The initial intervention is expected to lengthen the process around arrest warrants requested over the conflict. The observations process "triggered" by the UK announcement in June has meant the proceedings are expected to be delayed by three to four months.
Prosecutor Karim Khan made a request to the ICC in May for the arrest warrants of Hamas and Israeli leaders over the militant group's attacks on October 7 and Israel's retaliatory campaign in Gaza.
More than 60 governments and other parties will be allowed to file arguments to the ICC before a new deadline of August 6. The development, first reported by The New York Times on Thursday, comes days after British officials said suspended funds would be released by UNRWA, the Palestinian relief agency.
The countries preparing to intervene in the case include Germany, which is also expected to challenge the arrest warrants, and South Africa, which brought a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice earlier this year.
Germany is expected to object on the grounds of complimentarity, arguing that Israel should be given more time to investigate itself the allegations of war crimes during its campaign in Gaza.
Ireland and Spain, which recognised a Palestinian state earlier this year, are known to have applied to make their own submissions, as did the US and Hungary, which had previously criticised the request for arrest warrants.
While there is no set deadline to rule on the prosecution request for arrest warrants, allowing dozens of legal arguments will slow the process by the three-judge panel deciding on the matter.
The requests for intervention were not made public by the court but some are expected to be a response to a request by Britain to file arguments on whether the court has jurisdiction over Israeli citizens due to provisions in the Oslo Accords which say the Palestinians do not have criminal jurisdiction over Israelis.
The ensuing delays have led to criticism by rights groups of the UK's initial intervention, which they claim has opened the door for further submission requests. Richard Hermer, the UK's new Attorney General, is believed to have played a key role in reversing the policy.
Prof Stefan Talmon, a UK barrister and international law professor at the University of Bonn, told The National: "By making the request, the UK triggered a development. This was the first time ever a state applied to make observations at the arrest warrant stage."
But Prof Talmon believes the delays are minimal in international court proceedings, which often take years.
"In terms of legal procedure, three to four months [delay] is nothing. If they issued the warrants tomorrow, there would be no arrests tomorrow, or a change of behaviour from Hamas or the Israeli leaders," he said.
Once the arrest warrant for a person is issued it is valid for the rest of their lives, until they are arrested and sent to The Hague, home of the international courts, or until they die, he added.
“Overall, the whole process strengthens the institution of the ICC. It’s the first time that two western leaders are in the spotlight," he said.
