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Palestinians ask ICC to investigate Israel

[ssba]

The Palestinian Authority (PA) asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to open an immediate investigation into allegations of war crimes against the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Riyad al-Maliki, the PA Foreign Minister, met the ICC’s chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda at the tribunal in The Hague, “to refer the situation in Palestine” to her office.

Al-Maliki told reporters afterwards the referral was an “important and historic step” for the Palestinian people “who continue to suffer from ongoing, widespread and systematic crimes”. He said the request was “Palestine’s test to the international mechanism of accountability and respect for international law,” referring to the ICC’s 2015 preliminary probe into allegations of war crimes in the Palestinian territories which has not moved to the next stage of a full investigation.

Bensouda responded that “the mere submission of the request does not automatically lead to the opening of an investigation,” adding that the preliminary examination to determine whether there is an infrastructure for the opening of a criminal investigation against Israel “has progressed substantially and will continue to be conducted in accordance with the Rome Statute”.

The US Government criticised the PA for taking this action. Edgar Vasquez, spokesperson for the US State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, told reporters: “We have made clear that we oppose actions against Israel at the ICC as counterproductive to the cause of peace.”

Israel slammed the Palestinian move as “a cynical act that has no legal validity. The PA has continued to abuse the court for political purposes instead of acting to advance political negotiations,” an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.

In 2012, Palestine became a “non-member observer state at the UN,” allowing the PA to seek membership of the ICC, which it achieved on 1 April 2015.

Although Israel is not an ICC member, its citizens can be charged by the court if they are suspected of committing crimes on the territory of a country that is a member.