Israel’s mounting legal challenges are about to get worse, with two of the world’s top courts to rule on the legality of settlements in the West Bank, and potentially issue an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged war crimes in Gaza.

All eyes are now on how the UK Government will respond.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is scheduled to deliver an advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories on Friday.

Meanwhile, Israeli legal officials believe the International Criminal Court (ICC) will issue arrest warrants for Israsel’s Prime Minister and his defence minister Yoav Gallant within the next two weeks, according to media reports.

The Labour Government has called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and recognition of a Palestinian state, but it is under pressure to take a more critical stance towards Israel, after losing five seats to independent candidates, primarily over the war, including former leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Labour MP Zarah Sultana tabled an amendment to the King’s Speech on Wednesday, calling on colleagues “to uphold international law” and end British arms sales to Israel. In an article in The Guardian, she wrote: “This responsibility now falls to Labour.”

Mr Corbyn said movements such as Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), which promotes economic boycotts of Israel’s illegal settlements, have for years “been smeared and debased”.

“Today, they await a swift and deserved apology,” he told i. “Boycotts, divestments and sanctions helped end apartheid in South Africa. They will be essential to ending the apartheid regime in Israel, too.

“If the Government was serious about respecting international law, it would immediately distance itself from the previous government’s attacks on BDS campaigners. And they would immediately and unconditionally recognise the state of Palestine, as a first step to a just and lasting peace.”

On Monday, Mr Corbyn and fellow independent MPs wrote to Foreign Secretary David Lammy with a series of demands over Gaza, among them a plea to drop any legal challenge to the ICC’s application for an arrest warrant against Mr Netanyahu.

Israeli media reports have claimed Israel made an unofficial agreement with the previous Conservative government to challenge the ICC’s jurisdiction in the Gaza Strip, in exchange for the UK to gain access and inspect conditions at detention facilities holding Hamas militants who have been under arrest since 7 October.

The Foreign Office has been contacted for comment.

The UK’s request to lodge the challenge was made on 10 June but was only made public three weeks ago by the ICC.

Israel was apparently relying on the legal bid to derail the ICC’s efforts, but there are conflicting reports on whether Labour will withdraw or keep the challenge. Israel’s Maariv newspaper suggested it still stands, while The Guardian reported that the party believes the ICC does have jurisdiction over Gaza.

Either way, Israeli legal officials believe it is “highly probable” the ICC will issue arrest warrants in the next fortnight, according to Israel’s Channel 14.

Meanwhile, Israeli officials believe the ICJ will declare Israel is permanently occupying the West Bank in violation of international law, Haaretz reported. They fear that this could bring fresh sanctions by Western governments against individuals and organisations associated with the settler movement, according to the newspaper.

The impending ICJ ruling follows the request of the UN General Assembly less than two years ago – before the war in Gaza began – when it asked the court for an advisory opinion on Israel’s military and civilian presence in the West Bank.

A record 52 countries presented arguments to the ICJ during public hearings in February, with the UK, under the last government, submitting an opinion against the case.

The ICJ has already issued a series of orders against Israel in another case dealing with the war in Gaza, which was brought by South Africa after it accused Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip.

The UK has in recent months joined many Western nations in sanctioning “extremist Israeli groups” over violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank, which has seen a deadly wave of settler attacks since 7 October.

Mr Lammy raised concerns over settler expansion with the Israeli leadership when he visited Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories earlier this week.

Haaretz reported that the issue, including controversial remarks made by Israel’s finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, was raised at every meeting the Foreign Secretary attended.

Mr Smotrich, a member of the hard-right wing Religious Zionism party who lives in a settlement, called on Mr Netanyahu to annex the West Bank should the ICJ declare Israeli settlements illegal.

He said the Israeli leader should “respond to them with a historic decision of applying sovereignty to the territories of the homeland”, The Times of Israel reported.

He also promised to “thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state through massive construction, regulating settlements, building roads and other measures in the field” – moves that are illegal under international law.

While human rights experts say sanctions are an important step, they do not go far enough to stem settler violence.

Kenneth Roth, the former executive director of Human Rights Watch, pointed to how the UN Security Council, the UN’s highest body, called Israel’s settlements a “flagrant violation” of international law in 2016 and ordered it to cease all settlement activity.

“Obviously, Israel hasn’t done that, and Western governments have not imposed sanctions,” he told i. “What is needed is not yet another legal statement of the obvious, but enforcement of the law.”

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Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 states it is a war crime for an occupying power to transfer its population to occupied territory. “That’s what the settlements are,” Mr Roth said.

“The ICJ will undoubtedly reaffirm that, but the real question is why Western governments are doing so little – really, nothing – to enforce the law.”

An advisory opinion is not binding, and it is up to state parties to decide whether they follow any determination of an opinion.

Israel has ignored such opinions in the past, but the ICJ ruling could add political pressure on the country that has already seen its global reputation tarnished by the Gaza conflict.

Marc Weller, professor of international law and international constitutional studies at the University of Cambridge, said advisory opinions are highly authoritative in terms of clarifying the law on contested points.

“In this instance, a further opinion will likely strengthen the diplomatic position of states supporting the legal claims of the Palestinian side, and of potential Palestinian statehood,” he told i.

“Israel may not comply and her close allies may complain, but the court is the highest, best-placed international agency to pronounce itself in the matter.”