US ‘pressuring UK to block ICC’s Netanyahu arrest warrant’

Human rights barrister says US expects Labour government to continue UK challenge to proposed action against Israeli PM

• Labour faces its first moral test in power. Will it protect Netanyahu from being prosecuted by the ICC?

The US has been accused of putting pressure on the new Labour government not to drop a legal challenge mounted by Rishi Sunak's administration over the international criminal court's right to seek an arrest warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes.

In May, under the previous Conservative government, the Foreign Office challenged whether the ICC had any jurisdiction over Israeli actions in Gaza. Back in 2021, the ICC ruled that it does have jurisdiction over Israeli activity in Palestine.