UK willing to hand over potential war crimes evidence gathered from Gaza to ICC: Report

London (Quds News Network)- The UK has said it would consider providing the International Criminal Court (ICC) with intelligence gathered from surveillance flights over Gaza if requested, according to a report by the BBC.

The ICC is already carrying out an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by both Hamas and Israel during the ongoing genocide war in Gaza.

The Royal Air Force (RAF) has flown hundreds of surveillance flights over Gaza since last December, reportedly using Shadow R1 spy planes based in nearby Cyprus.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) claimed these flights were to gather intelligence related to the Israeli captives held in Gaza.

But it has also stated it is willing to share intelligence relating to war crimes with the ICC.

The MoD has denied reports it is providing wider targeting information to Israel or that RAF aircraft have been used to fly weapons into Israel during its war in Gaza.

The MoD said in a statement: “In line with our international obligations, we would consider any formal request from the International Criminal Court to provide information relating to investigations into war crimes.”

“The UK is not a participant in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.”

“Our mandate is narrowly defined to focus on securing the release of the hostages only, including British nationals, with the RAF routinely conducting unarmed flights since December 2023 for this sole purpose.”

There has been no formal request from the ICC, yet.

In May, ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan said there were reasonable grounds to believe Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defense minister Yoav Gallant bore criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity since the start of the offensive on Gaza.

Any request for the arrest warrants of Netanyahu and Gallant must yet be approved by ICC judges.

Khan said Israel’s prime minister and defense minister were suspected of crimes including starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, murder, intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population, and extermination.

Following the UK general election, the new Labour government lifted opposition to the ICC having the right to seek an arrest warrant for Netanyahu, a change in policy Khan told the BBC he welcomed.

In recent months, the British government has also restricted some arms sales to Israel and refunded the UN agency helping Palestinians.