International Criminal Court's decisions must be respected, EU's Borrell says

Outgoing European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called on all EU member states on Thursday to respect decisions by the International Criminal Court, including the arrest warrant for Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"We cannot undermine the International Criminal Court. It is the only way of having global justice," Borrell, whose term as the EU's top diplomat ends this month, told reporters in Brussels.

"They're not political. It's a legal body formed by respected people who are the best among the profession of judges."

Though all EU member states are signatories to the ICC's founding treaty, France said on Wednesday it believed Netanyahu had immunity to actions by the ICC, given that Israel has not signed up to the court statutes.

Italy has said it is not feasible to arrest Netanyahu as long as he remains head of Israel's government.

ICC judges said there were reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, his former minister of defence, were criminally responsible for acts including murder, persecution and starvation as a weapon of war as part of a "widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza".

Reporting by Reuters