France “takes note” of the arrest warrants issued by the ICC against Netanyahu, Gallant and Deif | conflict | diplomacy | justice

France “takes note” of the arrest warrants issued Thursday by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and the leader of the Hamas terrorist group Mohammed Deif, declared the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday.

“Faithful to its long-standing commitment to supporting international justice”, Paris “recalls its attachment to the independent work of the Court”, it underlines in a press release, without explicitly specifying whether France, which is one of the 124 Member States of the ICC, would arrest them if these people went to its territory.

These arrest warrants for war crimes and crimes against humanity aroused indignation in Israel and provoked a wave of contrasting reactions in Europe.

International reactions

The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, affirmed Thursday that the arrest warrants must be “respected and applied”.

Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, for his part, declared that Italy would be obliged to arrest the Israeli Prime Minister or his former minister in the event of a visit to the country. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, more cautious, expressed Italian support for the ICC, “while recalling that the court must have a legal role and not a political role”.

“This decision is a shame for the international legal system,” responded the head of Hungarian diplomacy Peter Szijjarto.

American President Joe Biden denounced a “scandalous” decision.

France's position

Regarding the situation in Gaza, France “has always and since the start of the conflict demanded strict respect for international humanitarian law and the protection of civilians” and “condemned its violations”, recalls the spokesperson for French diplomacy, Christophe Lemoine.

Paris also “condemned and continues to condemn in the strongest terms the anti-Semitic terrorist attacks committed on October 7 by Hamas and other terrorist groups” and “recalls that there is no possible equivalence between Hamas, a terrorist group, and Israel, a democratic state,” he argues.