The British government appears to have withdrawn an assertion made by the former prime minister, Boris Johnson, that the international criminal court has no jurisdiction in Israel, amid a wider western shift to more pointed criticism of the way Israel is conducting its campaign to remove Hamas from Gaza.
In a statement to MPs on Tuesday, the Foreign Office minister, Andrew Mitchell, said: “It is not for ministers to seek to state where the ICC has jurisdiction; that is for the chief prosecutor. The chief prosecutor has not been silent on this matter, and I am sure he will continue to express his views.”
At a different point he said: “It is not for me to fetter or speak in the place of its chief prosecutor.”
Mitchell has been challenged repeatedly to say if he agreed withJohnson, who as prime minister in April 2021 wrote to the Conservative Friends of Israel: “We do not accept that the ICC have jurisdiction given Israel is not a signatory to the Rome statute, and Palestine is not a sovereign state.” Johnson added that an ICC inquiry into war crimes was a partial and prejudicial attack on a friend and ally of the UK.
The shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, said the Labour party recognised the ICC’s jurisdiction.
Last week, Karim Khan, the British lawyer who is the ICC’s chief prosecutor, wrote in the Guardian: “My office has jurisdiction over all crimes committed within the territory of the state of Palestine by either party, including events currently taking place in Gaza and the West Bank.”
Asked if the position set out by Johnson was still government policy, the Foreign Office said: “As we have said from the outset, we continue to urge Israel to ensure it adheres to international humanitarian law and takes every possible precaution to protect civilians.”
Mitchell started to spell out sharper UK criticisms of Israel’s conduct while also asserting its right to self-defence and criticising Hamas for using citizens as human shields.
He said: “We have been clear that all parties to a conflict must afford civilians the protection that is their right under international law. That includes respecting the sanctity of hospitals, so that doctors can continue to care for the sick and injured.
“Hospitals should be places of safety, able to treat patients with compassion. It is distressing to see them unable to do so. Every civilian death is heartbreaking, and it is impossible to comprehend the pain and loss that innocent Palestinians are enduring.”
He quoted Robert Mardini, the director general of the International Committee of the Red Cross, saying he had made clear that Gaza hospitals, treating hundreds of injured people, could not be targeted under any circumstances. Mitchell said the ICRC was the guardian of international humanitarian law and the Geneva conventions.
Mitchell’s remarks build on a foreign policy speech by the prime minister, Rishi Sunank, in London on Monday in which he said too many civilians had died.
Sunak also warned Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, that the Palestinian Authority must have a role in future governance of the Gaza Strip. Sunak said the UK would “provide the serious, practical and enduring support needed to bolster the Palestinian Authority because they are the best route to sweep away the terrible scourge of Hamas and all it has wrought”.
Like the US president, Joe Biden, Mitchell said the UK government called for “less intrusive action” at al-Shifa hospital, saying the scenes on television were horrific.
