UK opposes Israel war crimes investigation at ICC, Boris Johnson says

The US and Israel criticise the international court inquiry into possible Israeli war crimes since 2014

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he opposes the ICC probe into possible Israeli war crimes in Palestine. Getty Images

Britain is against an International Criminal Court investigation into alleged war crimes in the Palestinian territories, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a letter published on Wednesday.

The United States had already criticised the inquiry, which was launched last month after the ICC ruled it has jurisdiction to examine possible crimes committed since 2014.

“We oppose the ICC’s investigation into war crimes in Palestine,” Mr Johnson said in the letter to three politicians from his right-wing Conservative party, which was originally sent on April 9.

"We do not accept that the ICC has jurisdiction in this instance, given that Israel is not a party to the Statute of Rome and Palestine is not a sovereign state," said Mr Johnson, whose office confirmed the letter's authenticity to The National on Wednesday.

Palestinian protesters wave flags as Israeli troops take position during a protest against Jewish settlements in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah. Reuters

Now that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has secured a new term in office, there’s little to prevent him from annexing large parts of the West Bank as early as this summer. AP

An Israeli soldier stands guard during a tour made by Israeli parliament members in the Jordan Valley near the Jewish settlement of Maale Efrayim. Reuters

Israeli soldiers take position as Palestinian demonstrators gather during a protest against expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. AP

King Abdullah (r) of Transjordan on May 13, 1948 in Amman with Abed Al Rahman Azzam, the secretary general of the Arab League and Abd Al Elah Ibn Ali, the Prince Regent of Iraq, the day before the beginning of the first Arab-Israeli War. AFP

Palestinians surrender to Israeli soldiers in June 1967 in the occupied territory of the West Bank after Israel launched a pre-emptive attack on Egypt and Syria and seized the Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights in Syria as well as the West Bank and Arab East Jerusalem. AFP

A Palestinian child plays in a refugee camp in Jordan on June 23, 1967. AFP

PLO chairman Yasser Arafat delivers a speech to the Palestine National Council meeting to make the historic proclamation of a Palestinian state in the Israeli-occupied territories and to recognize Israel in the Palace of Nations conference hall on November 12, 1988, in Algiers. AFP

US President Bill Clinton stands between PLO leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzahk Rabin as they shake hands for the first time on September 13, 1993 at the White House. AFP

Hussein Ibn Talal, King of Jordan and Israeli Premier Yitzhak Rabin shake hands after they exchanged the documents of the Peace Treaty at Beit Gabriel conference centre on November 10, 1994 on the southern shore of the Sea of Galilee. AFP

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speaks during the Palestinian leadership meeting and threatened to end security coordination with Israel and the United States, saying Israeli annexation would ruin chances for peace. AFP

Houses in the Israeli settlement of settlement of Kedumim are seen in the foreground as part of the Palestinian city of Nablus is seen in the background (far left) in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Reuters

Israel's controversial concrete barrier (C) separating the Jewish settlement of Neve Yaakov (foreground) in the northern part of east Jerusalem and the Palestinian area of al-Ram (background) in the occupied West Bank. AFP

An Israeli activist holds a banner during a protest against the US peace plan for the Middle East, in front of the US ambassador's residence in Jerusalem, on May 15, 2020, as Palestinians commemorate the 72nd anniversary of the 1948 Nakba or "catastrophe". AFP

A Palestinian shepherd tends to his camels on arid land considered to be in "Area C" (under Israeli security and administrative control), southeast of Yatta town in the southern West Bank district of Hebron. AFP

A general view of the Israeli settlement of Elon Moreh, as seen from the Palestinian village of Azmout near the West Bank City of Nablus. EPA

The West Bank Jewish settlement of Maale Michmash. AP

The court is set to examine alleged crimes committed by Palestinians and Israelis in East Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank.

Palestine joined the ICC in 2015 and accuses Israel of “ongoing, systematic, and widespread” crimes.

"This is a long-awaited step that serves Palestine's tireless pursuit of justice and accountability," the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in March, when prosecutor Fatou Bensouda opened the investigation.

In addition to investigating the 2014 Gaza war, the ICC will also examine long-standing Israeli policies, including settlement building in the West Bank.

Israel says it does not recognise the court's jurisdiction and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the investigation as absurd.

“We will never stop fighting this injustice. We will speak the truth in every forum, in every country, on every stage until this outrageous decision is reversed and becomes null and void,” Mr Netanyahu said last month.

Israel has the backing of US officials, who “disagree strongly” with the ICC’s actions, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

"We maintain our long-standing objection to the court's efforts to assert jurisdiction over personnel of non-states parties such as the United States and Israel," he said on April 2, as the US dropped sanctions imposed on ICC officials for a separate inquiry into possible US war crimes in Afghanistan.

Israel has controlled East Jerusalem and large parts of the West Bank since the 1967 war. It also seized Gaza before pulling out of the enclave in 2005 and imposing a blockade on the coastal territory.