‘There Must Be Accountability’ – British MP Calls on ICC to Investigate Israel’s War Crimes in Gaza

By Palestine Chronicle Staff

British MP Claudia Webbe has signed a formal call to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate and prosecute Israeli war crimes in Gaza.

Webbe posted on Friday the video of her speech to British MPs at Westminster Hall, explaining her decision: 

“I’ll not be an accomplice to Israel’s War Crimes or its daily atrocities against Palestine,” she wrote, adding: 

“I’ve submitted a complaint to the International Criminal Court for Justice to investigate and prosecute Israel for genocide and crimes against humanity.”

In a separate statement on Wednesday, the Leicester East MP announced that she had “signed a formal complaint to the International Criminal Court for Justice calling on them to investigate and prosecute the Israeli government for war crimes against the people of Palestine, including genocide and crimes against humanity.”

“The death toll from bombs and missiles is horrifying, but the toll from starvation and disease is set to be even worse,” Webbe said, adding that “the Israeli government is blaming the UN for the situation and is using humanitarian aid as a weapon of war”.

“I have signed the formal complaint to the International Criminal Court because there must be accountability for those responsible,” Webbe stated, adding that she has received “well over 6,000 letters and emails from constituents calling for an immediate ceasefire”.

In a statement on X, the Geneva-based human rights group Euro-Med Monitor commended the British MP for “this brave position” and urged “government officials, MPs, international organizations & public figures to join this growing consensus & to push for justice & accountability”.

Never again Must Mean Never again for Anyone.

Below is the full statement published by Claudia Webbe:

“I have signed a formal complaint to the International Criminal Court for Justice calling on them to investigate and prosecute the Israeli government for war crimes against the people of Palestine, including genocide and crimes against humanity.

“Israel’s bombardment of Gaza has destroyed or severely damaged 60-70% of homes and public buildings – some estimates say 80-90% – and has killed more than 20,000 civilians, including at least 10,000 children, as well as maiming countless others, who are now forced to undergo amputations and other serious surgery without anaesthetic, in impossible conditions.

“The death toll from bombs and missiles is horrifying, but the toll from starvation and disease is set to be even worse, with Israel only allowing a fraction of the aid into Gaza that its people need and the UN unable to distribute it effectively because so many of their trucks have been destroyed. More than 150 UN personnel have been killed.

“Yet the Israeli government is blaming the UN for the situation and is using humanitarian aid as a weapon of war, while Israel’s ministers have even suggested dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza and talk openly of ‘Nakba 2023’ – a repeat of the violent mass expulsion of Palestinians in 1948 – and Israeli troops have planted flags in the centre of flattened residential districts to stake their claim.

“I have received well over 6,000 letters and emails from constituents calling for an immediate ceasefire and I am comforting too many who have lost family under the rubble and others desperately worried about their loved ones and friends in Gaza and I will not be silent. Collective punishment is a war crime, forcible transfer of the population is a war crime, indiscriminate bombing and the use of white phosphorus on civilians – now confirmed by Amnesty International – is a war crime. I will not be an accomplice.

“I have signed the formal complaint to the International Criminal Court because there must be accountability for those responsible, and I have urged my colleagues in Parliament to do the same.

“Never again must mean never again for anyone.”

(The Palestine Chronicle)