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France said on Thursday that allowing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plane to transit its airspace was consistent with international law, despite an arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Foreign Ministry spokesman Pascal Confavreux told reporters that the decision was “fully in accordance with international law”. He noted that France had previously allowed Netanyahu’s aircraft to use its airspace.
Confavreux said the Rome Statute, the treaty establishing the ICC, does not impose an “obligation” on member states regarding the passage through their airspace of a state aircraft carrying a passenger subject to an arrest warrant.
France calls for compliance with Israel-Syria agreement
Turning to the Middle East, the spokesman said the 1974 Agreement on Disengagement between Israel and Syria remained valid. France has called on all parties, including Israel, to comply with the agreement, he added.
Paris also reaffirmed its support for the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, the UN peacekeeping mission tasked with maintaining the ceasefire between Israel and Syria.
France expects “an end to all military deployments” in the buffer zone between the two countries, Confavreux said, stressing that any military deployment there violates the 1974 agreement.
Netanyahu’s plane crossed airspace of ICC member states
Earlier on Thursday, the aircraft carrying Netanyahu to the United States for the UN General Assembly flew through the airspace of Greece, Italy and France, according to flight-tracking website Flightradar24.
The three countries are parties to the Rome Statute and are generally required to cooperate with ICC requests to arrest and surrender wanted individuals found on their territory. The plane left Israel early Thursday and crossed the airspace of European countries that are members of the court.
