Poland’s Deputy Foreign Minister Wladyslaw Bartoszewski has confirmed that the country will arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he attempts to attend an Auschwitz memorial on January 27.

He said Warsaw would respect and comply with the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC), accusing Netanyahu of war crimes Gaza.

Fearing arrest, Netanyahu has decided to skip the event which marks the 80th-anniversary memorial of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

RT reports: Warsaw’s top diplomat stated that Poland, as a signatory of the Rome Statute, is obligated to comply with the directives of the International Criminal Court (ICC). In November, ICC issued warrants for the arrests of Netanyahu and former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant, citing alleged war crimes related to the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

The court accused Netanyahu and Gallant of using starvation as a method of warfare, alleging they deliberately deprived civilians in Gaza of food, water, and medicine. There was “no obvious military necessity” for such actions, which amount to violations of international law, according to prosecutors.

Israel’s Education Minister Yoav Kisch is expected to be the only government representative at the Auschwitz commemoration, Jerusalem Post reports. The participation of President Isaac Herzog “seems unlikely.”

While all 27 European Union member states are parties to the Rome Statute and thus required to enforce ICC arrest warrants, responses to the court’s decision have varied. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has openly invited Netanyahu to visit, assuring him that Hungary would not enforce the arrest warrant.

Conversely, countries like Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Lithuania, and Slovenia have indicated their intent to comply with the ICC’s directives, regardless of diplomatic immunity.

France initially expressed its intention to adhere to the arrest warrant but later cited diplomatic immunity protections for Netanyahu.

The ICC’s actions have elicited strong reactions from Israeli officials. Prime Minister Netanyahu has likened the arrest warrants to a “modern-day Dreyfus affair,” asserting that they are politically motivated.