Arrest warrant to Netanyahu: will ‘abide’ by ICC rulings, says Canada

Ottawa: Over the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant for Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Canada reacted that it would “abide by the ruling. This is after the United Kingdom announced that Netanyahu could be arrested if he lands in their territory.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that they stand up for international law and will abide by all the regulations and rulings of the international courts.

"This is just who we are as Canadians," NDTV quoted Trudeau.

Charging “crimes against humanity”, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday. The crimes they allegedly committed during the Israel-Hamas war started in October 2023.

Early on Friday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesperson said that the UK will always comply with its legal obligations as set out by domestic law and, indeed, international law. But he refused to state whether UK police would detain Netanyahu and told reporters that he would not “get into hypotheticals in relation to individual cases,” NDTV quoted him.

While the UK and Canada, who have agreed to follow the ICC ruling, are part of the Five Eyes- which include Australia, New Zealand and the United States- the US has called the arrest warrant “outrageous”. President Joe Biden said in a statement that whatever the ICC might imply, the US will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.

Meanwhile, US Senator Bernie Sanders supported the arrest warrant and wrote on X, “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.”

When countries such as Belgium, the European Union, France, Iran, Ireland, Jordan, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, South Africa, Switzerland, and Turkey agreed to ICC ruling, Argentina, Austria, and Hungary, among others, disagreed.