The Foreign Ministry did not say outright that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel would be free to travel to France, but it argued that an I.C.C. rule on immunity may apply to him.

Arrest warrants were issued for Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant, as well as a Hamas military leader, last week.

British foreign minister David Lammy said on Wednesday he would continue to talk and meet with Benjamin Netanyahu after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against the Israeli prime minister for alleged war crimes in Gaza.