Tehran, IRNA – EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell has said that arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against the Israeli prime minister and his former war minister are binding, while renewing calls for a ceasefire in West Asia.

"The states that signed the Rome convention are obliged to implement the decision of the court. It's not optional," Borrell said on Saturday in reference to the Rome Statute that has been signed by all EU member states, according to Reuters.

The top EU diplomat was speaking during a visit to Cyprus, two days after the ICC issued the arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former war minister Yoav Gallant for crimes against humanity.

The US rejected the ICC's decision and Israel described the court’s move as anti-semitic.

Every time someone disagrees with Israeli policies, they are being "accused of antisemitism", Reuters reported Borrell as saying.

Meanwhile, Borrell, whose term as EU foreign policy chief ends this month, renewed calls for a ceasefire in the West Asia region where tensions have remained high amid Israel’s wars on Gaza and Lebanon.

He said that a ceasefire is “essential”, and “the price of no peace in the Middle East has become exorbitant not only for the people who are dying below the bombs but for the whole region and maybe the whole world. Inaction isn’t an option. Wait and see is not a policy”, according to Euro News.

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