All EU member states ‘under obligation to execute’ ICC arrest warrants: spokesperson

BRUSSELS (AA) – All EU member states “are under an obligation to execute arrest warrants issued by the ICC,” EU spokesperson Peter Stano has said in a written statement, specifically noting the warrants issued for two top Israeli officials in the ongoing war on Gaza.

The International Criminal Court (ICC), in a landmark move last week, issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, where more than 44,000 people have been killed since October 2023. Before his dismissal earlier this month, Gallant led the execution of the ongoing war.

While some EU countries announced they would implement the warrants if the Israeli officials set foot on their territory, others were less clear, and one said there would be no arrests.

Taking note of the arrest warrant, Stano wrote that the EU is “strongly committed to international criminal justice and the fight against impunity.”

The bloc supports the ICC and “the principles set out in the Rome Statute” – which founded the court – as well as the court’s “independence and impartiality,” Stano also said.

The ICC’s mandate is “to prosecute the most serious crimes under international law,” he said, stressing that all EU member states “that have ratified the Rome Statute … are under an obligation to execute arrest warrants issued by the ICC.”

Israel launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip following a Hamas attack in October 2023. It has killed nearly 44,300 people, most of them women and children, and injured over 104,000 in the enclave.

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its deadly war on Gaza.