Italian Foreign Ministry says G7 communiqué on ICC decision to arrest Netanyahu drafted

The G7 countries should take a unified position on the decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on November 25.

"Our position is very clear on this issue. We want to reach an agreement with the other G7 countries in order to have a unified position in this regard. We must be united on this issue because we are working for peace," Tajani said after the first day of the G7 summit.

He added that the text of a joint statement on the ICC arrest warrant against Netanyahu is being drafted together with political leaders. And possibly, subject to its approval by all G7 members, it will be included in the final communiqué at the end of the summit.

"We are ready to play an important role in promoting the settlement of the conflict in Lebanon and the Middle East, just as we play in the Balkans", - specified the Italian Foreign Minister.

Prior to that, on November 23, United States Congress Senator Lindsey Graham (listed on Russia's list of terrorists and extremists) said that US allies who tried to help the ICC in Netanyahu's arrest could face Washington's sanctions. Graham emphasized that the US should "destroy the economies" of countries that are trying to help the ICC with Netanyahu's arrest.

The ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant on November 21. The decision was made because, according to the court, they are criminally responsible as civilian chiefs "for the war crime of deliberately attacking the civilian population."

In turn, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the ICC's decision to issue an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and former Defense Ministry chief Yoav Galant would in no way help end the conflict in the Middle East.

Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said that the Netherlands is ready to arrest Netanyahu if he arrives in the country. At the same time, Sarah Wagenknecht's Union for Reason and Justice party leader Sarah Wagenknecht called the warrant a slap in the face to Chancellor Olaf Scholz and German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock.

The situation in the Middle East escalated on the morning of October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a massive rocket attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip and invaded border areas in the south and took hostages. On the same day, Israel began retaliatory strikes against targets in the Gaza Strip.