The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu was based on “implausible” claims of famine, a UK charity has said.

A new report by UK Lawyers for Israel Charitable Trust (UKLFI) alleges that “alarming projections” of a famine were in fact based on “significant errors, methodological flaws, and misrepresentations”.

The claim of imminent famine in Gaza formed a central plank of the ICC arrest warrant issued against the Israeli prime minister and Yoav Gallant, the former defence minister, last year.

When setting out the grounds for the ICC’s warrant Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor, said: “Famine is present in some areas of Gaza and is imminent in other areas.”

He went on to accuse Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant of having “a common plan to use starvation as a method of war”.