Soon after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued its arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, the EU's foreign policy chief issued a reminder.
(Article by Rayhan Uddin republished from MiddleEastEye.net)
"These decisions are binding on all states party to the Rome Statute, which includes all EU member states," Josep Borrell posted on X.
The Israeli prime minister and former defence minister are accused of "the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts".
All 124 members of the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC, are now compelled to arrest the two Israelis and hand them over to the court.
It is likely that both leaders will restrict their travel so as not to be detained - something Russia's Vladmir Putin has done since being indicted by the ICC in March last year.
Some member states have previously flouted their obligation: both South Africa and Jordan failed to arrest Omar Hassan al-Bashir when the Sudanese autocrat visited them, drawing the ire of human rights groups and the ICC.
Many of the states that will be compelled to hand over Netanyahu and Gallant are allies of Israel, including the UK, France, Germany and Hungary.
The ICC does not have enforcement powers, instead relying on the cooperation of member states to arrest and surrender suspects.
France and the Netherlands have both already indicated that they would act on the warrants if needed.
Here is the full list of all the state signatories to the ICC, who are obliged to act on the warrants:
A
Albania
Andorra
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Australia
Austria
B
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belgium
Belize
Benin
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
C
Cabo Verde
Cambodia
Canada
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
Colombia
Comoros
Congo
Cook Islands
Costa Rica
Cote d’Ivoire
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
D
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
E
Ecuador
El Salvador
Estonia
F
Fiji
Finland
G
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea
Guyana
H
Honduras
Hungary
I
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
J
Japan
K
Kenya
Kiribati
L
Latvia
Lesotho
Liberia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
M
Madagascar
Malawi
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Marshall Islands
Mauritius
Mexico
Mongolia
Montenegro
N
Namibia
Nauru
Netherlands
New Zealand
Niger
Nigeria
North Macedonia
Norway
P
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Poland
Portugal
R
Republic of Korea
Republic of Moldova
Romania
S
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Samoa
San Marino
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
Spain
Suriname
Sweden
Switzerland
T
Tanzania
Tajikistan
Timor-Leste
Trinidad and Tobago
U
Uganda
Uruguay
V
Vanuatu
Venezuela
Z
Zambia
Read more at: MiddleEastEye.net
