Ottawa:
After the United Kingdom, Canada said it would “abide” by the arrest warrant issued against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by the International Criminal Court (ICC). “We stand up for international law, and we will abide by all the regulations and rulings of the international courts,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.
“This is just who we are as Canadians,” he added.
The ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli premier and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday for “crimes against humanity” committed since the Israel-Hamas war began more than a year ago, triggered by the militant Palestinian group’s October 7, 2023 attack.
A warrant was also issued for Hamas’s military chief Mohammed Deif.
Earlier on Friday, the British government indicated that Netanyahu could be arrested on the ICC arrest warrant if he travelled to the UK.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesman said: “The UK will always comply with its legal obligations as set out by domestic law and indeed international law.”
However, he refused to be drawn specifically on whether UK police would detain Netanyahu, telling reporters he would not “get into hypotheticals in relation to individual cases”.
Both the UK and Canada are part of the Five Eyes, an intelligence alliance also composed of Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. Other countries that agreed to follow through with the ICC’s decision include– Belgium, the European Union, France, Iran, Ireland, Jordan, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, South Africa, Switzerland, and Turkey among others.
Other key Five Eyes member US has, however, called the move ‘outrageous’. “The ICC issuance of arrest warrants against Israeli leaders is outrageous,” President Joe Biden said in a statement.
“Let me be clear once again: whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas. We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security,” the statement added.
However, the warrant was supported by US Senator Bernie Sanders, who took to X and said: “All launched indiscriminate attacks against civilians and caused unimaginable human suffering”.
“If the world does not uphold international law, we will descend into further barbarism,” he added.
Other countries to declare ‘disagreement’ with ICC decisions include– Argentina, Austria, and Hungary, among others.