AA / Paris / Ümit Dönmez
France declared that the “immunity” of Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu must be respected within the framework of the obligations imposed by international law, in particular the Rome Statute. “The Rome Statute requires full cooperation with the International Criminal Court (ICC),” said the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs in a press release published this Wednesday.
However, the text also provides that a State “may not be required to act in a manner inconsistent with its obligations under international law with respect to the immunities of States not parties to the ICC.” This provision, according to the ministry, applies to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu as well as his ministers. “These immunities will have to be taken into consideration if the ICC were to ask us for their arrest and surrender,” the press release continued.
The Quai d'Orsay also recalled “the historic friendship which links France and Israel”, stressing that these are “two democracies attached to the rule of law and respect for professional and independent justice”. . Paris intends to “continue to work in close collaboration with Prime Minister Netanyahu and other Israeli authorities to achieve peace and security for all in the Middle East”.
Questioned Wednesday on franceinfoTV, Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot also raised these “questions of immunity” in the context of the international arrest warrants against Benyamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant. “France is very attached to international justice and will apply international law, which is based on its obligations to cooperate with the ICC,” he affirmed, while emphasizing that “the statute of the court deals with questions of immunity for certain leaders.” Barrot added that “it will ultimately be up to the judicial authority to decide.”
– Arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant
The ICC issued arrest warrants last Thursday against Benjamin Netanyahu, his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Gaza Strip. . While Israel is not a party to the ICC and the United States has withdrawn from it, several European countries, including Italy and the United Kingdom, have announced their intention to respect these mandates.
The conflict between Israel and Hamas, triggered on October 7, 2023 by an attack by the Palestinian movement, led to an Israeli declaration of war against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
This response, marked by airstrikes and a ground invasion, caused a catastrophic human toll: more than 45,000 dead, the majority of them children and women, as well as more than 104,000 injured. The massive destruction left hundreds of thousands of people homeless.
At the same time, South Africa has filed a complaint against Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over accusations of genocide in Gaza.
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