By Ahmet Gencturk
ATHENS (AA) - Italy has to comply with the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Tuesday, according to media reports.
“We are friends of Israel, but I think we must respect international law,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a G7 Foreign Affairs meeting in Fiuggi in response to a question on the common G7 line to adopt regarding the arrest warrants, according to state-run ANSA news agency.
The ICC announced arrest warrants last week for Netanyahu and former defense chief Yoav Gallant "for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024" in the Gaza Strip.
Israel’s genocide in Gaza has continued since an attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, on Oct. 7, 2023. The ensuing response by Israel has killed more than 44,000 victims, mostly women and children.
The onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the enclave, and a deliberate blockade has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine, pushing the population to the brink of starvation.