KEIR Starmer has refused to say whether or not the killing of a Palestinian man walking under a white flag was a war crime.
We previously told how ITV obtained footage of the moment a man part of a group in a Gaza “safe zone” was shot dead in the street despite walking with a group carrying a white flag.
The Israel Defence Forces has said that the video is “clearly edited” and refused to offer any further comment.
When asked by Robert Peston if he thought it was a war crime, the Labour leader confessed that he had not yet seen the video.
Asked whether a man murdered whilst carrying a white flag by the Israelis is a war crime, Starmer states he thinks it's unwise 'to form instant judgements' pic.twitter.com/C3UIUZw2WU
— j (@jrc1921) January 24, 2024
“First I have to say I haven’t seen the footage yet. I’ve been working round the clock, I haven’t stopped today yet,” he said.
“I will of course see it. I’ve been sent the link to it but I haven’t seen it yet.”
Starmer continued to say that Israel has the right to defend itself but that this “must be in accordance with international law” but stopped short of calling what happened a “war crime”.
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“It’s why we’ve said that the International Criminal Court (ICC) should be in there with jurisdiction with the prosecutor gathering evidence because there’s got to be accountability,” he added.
“What I don’t think is wise and we’re always being asked to do this is for politicians to sit looking at clips on social media or on programmes and forming instant judgements about whether it’s a breach of this law or that.
“That doesn’t seem to be wise but I don’t recoil from the fact or don’t resile from the fact that of course Israel has got to comply with international law and of course that means the accountability mechanisms need to be there of which the prosecutor is one which is why we support that.”
Reacting to the interview on Twitter/X, SNP MP John Nicolson said: "Shooting an unarmed civilian holding a white flag is a war crime.
"And @itvnews is a reliable source. Yet neither Rishi Sunak nor Keir Starmer can say the words."
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also failed to describe the killing as a “war crime” at PMQs on Wednesday when the SNP’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn brought up the same clip in the House of Commons.
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