UPDATE - Fearing arrest, Netanyahu to miss Auschwitz liberation anniversary event in Poland

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS

By Abderaouf Arnaout and Aysu Bicer

JERUSALEM / LONDON (AA) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will most likely not attend next month's ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, fearing arrest under a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC), Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita reported on Friday.

On Nov. 21, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

All 124 of the court’s signatory countries, including Poland, are obliged to arrest and hand Netanyahu and Gallant over for prosecution if they set foot on their territory.

According to the report, Israeli authorities did not even request the prime minister's attendance in the ceremony, and Poland's Deputy Foreign Minister Wladyslaw Bartoszewski has reiterated the country's commitment to respecting the decisions of the ICC.

The event, which will be attended by numerous heads of state and government and Holocaust survivors, could see Israeli representation by Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, the paper said. French President Emmanuel Macron, King Felipe VI of Spain, and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier have also confirmed their participation.

The main commemoration is scheduled to take place on Jan. 27, 2025, at the camp, which was established by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II.

The camp was liberated by Soviet forces on the same date in 1945, which has since been observed as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Auschwitz, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was converted into the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in 1947, serving as a stark reminder of the atrocities committed during the Holocaust.

Israel has killed more than 45,000 people, mostly women and children, in Gaza since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.

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

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi