UPDATE - Global community, EU 'cannot undermine International Criminal Court': EU foreign policy chief

CHANGES DECK, ADDS MORE REMARKS FROM EU FOREIGN POLICY CHIEF, EDITS THROUGH

By Nur Asena Erturk

ANKARA (AA) – The international community and the European Union “cannot undermine the International Criminal Court,” the EU foreign policy chief said on Thursday in the wake of the ICC issuing arrest warrants for Israel’s premier and former defense minister.

Josep Borrell, before attending a meeting of Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution in Brussels, told reporters that the international community, particularly the EU, “cannot undermine the International Criminal Court.”

The 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.

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

Supporting the court “is the only way of having global justice. It is only way to implement accountability. If the Europeans do not support fully (the) international court without procrastination, then the International Criminal Court will not work,” Borrell warned.

The EU foreign policy chief reiterated that the ICC decisions were not “political.”

He further said that the Israeli society was “being colonized from inside by the extremism and violent people.”

“The colonists are not only expanding on the Israeli territory. The colonization of the mind of the people is the most dangerous thing that the Israeli society is facing. Because it is undermining the foundations of their democracy,” he slammed.

Borrell also noted that “after what has happened in Gaza and what has happened in the West Bank, this is a different Israel.”

The EU foreign policy chief also warned that “without peace in Middle East, the whole region will be in danger.”

“And not only the whole region, he added. It is a cancer that will metastasize affecting international relations, and affecting from inside European societies.”

Also ahead of the meeting, Belgium’s Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib reiterated the need for a “negotiated diplomatic solution, a political solution” in the Middle East.

“It is time to go beyond partisan interests, beyond division ... and to advance toward the general interest of the whole region,” she said.

She also voiced hope that the cease-fire in Lebanon would "inspire" and set an example for peace in Gaza, which is now facing a second year of a brutal Israeli offensive that has killed over 44,000 people.

The cease-fire deal between Israel and Lebanon took effect early Wednesday to end more than 14 months of fighting between the Israeli army and Hezbollah.

Israel has launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip following a Hamas attack in October last year, killing nearly 44,300 people, most of them women and children, and injuring over 104,000.

The second year of genocide in Gaza has drawn growing international condemnation, with officials and institutions labeling the attacks and blocking of aid deliveries a deliberate attempt to destroy a population.

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