London: A British petition demanding arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes upon his arrival in the UK next month went viral in a few days attracting over 60,000 endorsements, Palestine News Network reported.
The petition titled “Benjamin Netanyahu to be arrested for war crimes when he arrives in London” is available at a petitions website set up under the auspices of the British parliament.
"We call upon British citizens and British residents who are committed to Human Rights and the Rule of Law to sign this petition. Amply documented, Netanyahu is a war criminal. His Western political partners in the US, Britain, France and Germany are complicit in supporting a war criminal", the petition says.
“Benjamin Netanyahu is to hold talks in London this September. Under international law, he should be arrested for war crimes upon arrival in the UK for the massacre of over 2,000 civilians in 2014,” the petition reads.
More than 60,000 people in the UK have so far signed the petition calling for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be arrested for war crimes against Palestinians when he pays an official visit to Britain next month, Press TV reported.
The online petition, uploaded on August 7 to the UK parliament’s official website, demands the apprehension of Netanyahu for the slaughter of thousands of Palestinians during the Israeli military’s 50-day military war against the Gaza Strip last year. The petition has garnered 60,454 signatures as of Sunday morning.
After 10,000 signatures, the British government must respond to the petition, and after 100,000 signatures, it will be considered for debate in the parliament. The deadline for signing the petition is February 7, 2016.
Rules governing the petition site stipulate that any petition that receives in excess of 100,000 signatures must be considered by the UK parliament for debate.
However, the Israeli Ministry for Foreign Affairs said in a statement earlier this week that the petition has “no real meaning,” adding, “Bilateral ties between Britain and Israel are closer than ever before.”
Israel launched a deadly offensive on Gaza last year starting July, which killed over 2,000 civilians, and 73 soldiers on the Israeli side.
The offensive ended in late August 2014, with a truce that took effect after indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israeli officials in the Egyptian capital city of Cairo.
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