European leaders give mixed reactions on Netanyahu's war crimes arrest warrant

European leaders have given mixed reactions on whether they would respect or ignore the decision of the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The world's top war crimes court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant, alongside Hamas commander Mohammed Deif on Thursday.

The ICC said there were "reasonable grounds" to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity by restricting humanitarian aid and targeting civilians during Israel's military campaign in the Gaza strip.

All 27 member states of the European Union, including Hungary, are part of the ICC. The court says that its members are required to detain suspects facing warrants if they step foot on their soil. However, in practice, the court has no way of enforcing this.

The EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Thursday that the court's decision should be "respected and implemented" by member states.

However, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán responded that not only would he defy the court, but that he would extend an invitation to Netanyahu to travel to Budapest.

Orbán called the warrants "outrageously impudent” and “cynical.”

Despite Hungary's resistance, Italy, Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands and France have signalled that they would respect the court's decision and potentially arrest Netanyahu if he travelled to one of their countries.

Italy's Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said Thursday that although it was "wrong" to compare Netanyahu and Gallant to Hamas, if the pair were to enter Italy, "we would have to arrest them".

The warrants are “an extremely significant step,” according to Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris, who added his country would respect the ICC's role.

Belgium's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it supported the work of the ICC "fully" and that "those responsible for crimes committed in Israel and Gaza must be prosecuted at the highest level, regardless of who committed them.”

Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp confirmed the Netherlands would "act on the arrest warrants."

Other countries were mixed in their responses, but signalled that they would follow the court's decision.

France's Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to say whether the country would arrest Gallant or Netanyahu but said it would act "in line with the ICC’s statutes.”

Their Austrian counterpart said that warrants were "ludicrous", but that his country would also be forced to implement arrests should Netanyahu and Gallant travel to Austria.

Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Germany was "examining" how to respond to the court's decision, adding that the country is bound by the court and recognises international law.

The warrant marks the first time a sitting leader of a major Western ally has been accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity by a global court of justice.

The move, although symbolic, is non-binding. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has an ICC warrant for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, recently escaped arrest when he visited Mongolia despite the country being one of the court's member states.

Biden, Israel condemn ICC's decision

Although the 27 member states of the European Union are part of the court, the US and Israel are not.

US President Joe Biden condemned the decision by the ICC to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant as "outrageous."

Arrest warrants for the pair were issued alongside one for Hamas commander Mohammed Deif for crimes against humanity, including murder and torture, during the 7 October attack by Hamas.

Biden said there was "no equivalence - none - between Israel and Hamas" and condemned the court for comparing the Israeli politicians with Deif.

"We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security" the US leader added.

Netanyahu called the arrest warrants "antisemitic" in a statement on Thursday.

The Israeli leader argued against the court's allegations saying Israel had supplied Gaza with "700,000 tons of food to feed the people of Gaza. We issue millions of text messages, phone calls, leaflets to the citizens of Gaza to get them out of harm's way."

Hamas did not respond to Deif's warrant but called the decision against Netanyahu and Gallant a "correction to a long path of historical injustice against our people."

Israel previously claimed they killed Deif in an airstrike, however, Hamas have never confirmed his death.