Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide stated that they will have to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant if they come to Norwegian territory if an arrest warrant is issued by the International Criminal Court.

This came in newspaper statements on Tuesday, in which he indicated that he would apply the same measure to the Hamas leader as well.

He pointed out that this application applies to other European countries.

With this announcement, Norway became the first European country to announce its intention to arrest Netanyahu if an arrest warrant is issued.

On Monday, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, revealed that he had requested the issuance of international arrest warrants against Netanyahu, Gallant, and three Hamas leaders: Ismail Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar, and Muhammad Deif. Charges of “war crimes,” “crimes against humanity,” and “genocide” committed since October 7.

The decision on whether to issue any of the requested arrest warrants rests with a three-judge panel of the ICC based on an assessment of the evidence presented by Khan's office.