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News > World

Palestine Asks International Criminal Court to Investigate Israel 'War Crimes'

  • Palestinian protesters wave Palestinian flags on the Israeli barrier separating the West Bank town of Abu Dis from Jerusalem, during clashes with Israeli troops Oct. 28, 2015.

    Palestinian protesters wave Palestinian flags on the Israeli barrier separating the West Bank town of Abu Dis from Jerusalem, during clashes with Israeli troops Oct. 28, 2015. | Photo: Reuters

Published 22 May 2018
Opinion

While Israel is not a part of the treaty of the ICC and party to the Rome Statute, its members, by extension, the Israeli nationals could still be tried by The Hague-based court for the crimes committed on Palestinian territory. 

Palestine has called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to launch an investigation into what it describes as “insurmountable” evidence that Israeli has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity on Palestinian territory.  

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Palestinian Authority's (PA)  Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki met with prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to discuss the issue at the Court, which is based in The Hague, Netherlands.  

"Through this referral, we want the Office of the Prosecutor to open, without delay, an investigation into all crimes that she presently concludes have been commissioned or are ongoing," said Malki. "This referral is Palestine's test to the international mechanism of accountability and respect for international law." 

Over the past few years, the PA and pro-Palestinian nonprofits have submitted documents to The Hague-based court detailing Israeli government's crimes in the occupied territories and requested a formal investigation, Palestine has never formally referred a case. 

"The State of Palestine took an important and historic step towards justice for the Palestinian people who continue to suffer from ongoing, widespread and systematic crimes," said Malki during a press conference after the meeting.  

Adding that the referral addressed many issues, including, "settlement expansion, land grabs, illegal exploitation of natural resources, as well as the brutal and calculated targeting of unarmed protesters, particularly in the Gaza Strip." 

While Israel is not a part of the treaty of the ICC and party to the Rome Statute, its members, by extension, the Israeli nationals can still be tried by Court for the crimes committed on Palestinian territory. 

The State of Palestine formally enrolled with the ICC in April 2015, giving the court jurisdiction over crimes committed in the territory since June 13, 2014 - including the 2014 Israeli assault on Gaza. The ICC's Office of the Prosecutor began its preliminary examination of the "situation in Palestine" in January 2015. 

Alex Whiting, a former ICC official, said that a state referral could help push things forward as it would make it "much harder" for the Office of the Prosecutor "to stay in the preliminary examination phase for years."  

Last week, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) also voted to dispatch a  team of international experts to Gaza to determine whether Israel committed war crimes by shooting Palestinian protesters participating in the Great March of Return. 

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