ICC prosecutor defends Netanyahu arrest warrant

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has said that his arrest warrant request for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is necessary to demonstrate the court is "not just an instrument of power".

In May, Karim Khan said he had filed an application for the arrest of Israeli and Hamas leaders for their roles in alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during Israel's war on Gaza and the 7 October Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.

The request for the warrants is yet to receive approval by the ICC judges.

Khan told the BBC’s Nick Robinson that he had been warned by multiple states and authorities that the move would prove to be an “atomic bomb”, but that it was necessary to show that all nations will be held to the same standard in relation to alleged war crimes.

“You can't have one approach for countries where there's support, whether it's Nato support, European support [and] powerful countries behind you, and a different approach where you have clear jurisdiction,"” Khan told Robinson.

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