G7 ministers throw support behind Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire

FIUGGI (AP):

Foreign ministers from the world’s leading industrialised countries threw their strong support Tuesday behind an immediate ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah but sidestepped a key question after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Israel’s leader over the war in Gaza.

At the end of their two-day summit outside Rome, the Group of Seven ministers didn’t refer explicitly to the Hague-based court and its arrest warrants on charges of crimes against humanity for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant.

The warrants said there was reason to believe Netanyahu and Gallant have used “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid and have intentionally targeted Palestinian civilians in Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza – charges Israeli officials deny.

Italy had put the ICC warrants on the official G7 meeting agenda, even though members were split on the issue. The US, Israel’s closest ally, isn’t a member of the court and has called the warrants “outrageous”. All the other G7 countries are signatories and are obliged to respect and implement the court’s decisions.

The final statement adopted by the ministers said Israel, in exercising its right to defend itself, “must fully comply with its obligations under international law in all circumstances, including international humanitarian law.”

And it said all G7 members – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States – “reiterate our commitment to international humanitarian law and will comply with our respective obligations.”

It stressed that “there can be no equivalence between the terrorist group Hamas and the state of Israel.”

The G7 meeting of foreign ministers, the last of the Biden administration, was dominated by the wars in Gaza and Lebanon. Ministers were heartened by indications that a ceasefire might soon be announced between Israel and Hezbollah.

“We are tracking this very closely. I hope and believe we can get this over the finish line,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a G7 briefing.

Netanyahu’s security Cabinet was convening Tuesday to discuss a proposed ceasefire. Among the issues that remain is an Israeli demand to reserve the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations under the emerging deal.

The G7 ministers were joined by the foreign ministers of the ‘Arab Quintet’ – Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

The EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said Tuesday there were “no excuses” for Israel to refuse to accept a ceasefire, saying all its security concerns had been addressed in the US-French-brokered deal.

Borrell said under the proposed agreement, the US would chair a ceasefire implementation committee, with France participating at Lebanon’s request. The outgoing EU foreign policy chief also called for increased pressure on Israel to not give into extremists in the government who were refusing to accept the deal. Speaking on the sidelines of the G7 meeting, he warned that if a ceasefire is not implemented, “Lebanon will fall apart”.