Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel has asked the court to suspend the warrants against him and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant pending the outcome of the appeal.

Israel has told the International Criminal Court it will appeal the arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over their actions in the Gaza war, Netanyahu’s office said, as France said it believed the officials Israelis have “immunity”. from mandates.

Netanyahu’s office said on Wednesday that Israel had also asked the ICC to suspend the warrants against him and Gallant for alleged “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity” pending the appeal.

The court said last week there were reasonable grounds to believe officials were responsible for using “starvation as a method of war” in Gaza by restricting the supply of humanitarian aid to the besieged Palestinian territory.

“The State of Israel denies the authority of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague and the legitimacy of the arrest warrants,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

“Israel has today submitted to the International Criminal Court a notice of its intention to appeal to the court, together with a request to postpone the execution of the arrest warrants,” it added.

The move came after France’s Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs said it believed the officials were immune because Israel is not a member of the court.

France’s opinion, issued a day after the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah brokered by the US and France, was criticized by rights groups.

Other countries, including Italy, have questioned the legality of the mandate.

The position of France

It took Paris almost a week to find a clear position after the Hague tribunal issued arrest warrants on November 21 for Israeli officials and a leader of the Palestinian armed group Hamas.

After initially saying it would accede to the ICC’s status, France’s foreign ministry adjusted that in a second statement on November 22 amid concerns that Israel could derail efforts for a ceasefire in Lebanon, saying noted that the court’s decision formalized only one charge.

On Wednesday, the ministry pointed out that the Rome Statute that established the ICC stated that a country could not be required to act in a manner inconsistent with its obligations “with respect to the immunities of states that are not parties to the ICC”.

“Such immunities apply to Prime Minister Netanyahu and other relevant ministers and will have to be taken into account if the ICC requests their arrest and surrender.”

It said France intends to continue working closely with Netanyahu and other Israeli authorities “to achieve peace and security for all in the Middle East.”

“profoundly problematic”

Human rights groups suggested that France tempered its response to maintain a working relationship with Netanyahu and his government.

“Some shocking nonsense from France here. No one gets immunity from an ICC arrest warrant because they are in office — not Netanyahu, not Putin, no one,” Andrew Stroehlein, European media director at Human Rights Watch wrote for X.

Rights group Amnesty International said France’s position was “deeply problematic”.

“Instead of inferring that ICC defendants may enjoy immunity, France should expressly confirm its acceptance of the unequivocal legal obligation under the Rome Statute to execute arrest warrants.”

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Tuesday that Rome has many doubts about the legality of ICC mandates and clarity is needed on whether senior state officials have immunity from arrest.

“Netanyahu would never go to a country where he can be arrested… Arresting Netanyahu is impossible, at least as long as he is prime minister,” he said.

France has been involved in efforts to end the fighting in the Middle East and, along with the United States, helped negotiate the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire that came into effect on Wednesday.