Thu 04 March 2021:
The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said on Wednesday she launched a formal inquiry into alleged crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories, a move strongly opposed by Israel.
Fatou Bensouda said in a statement that the investigations “will be conducted independently, impartially and objectively, without fear or favour.”
The announcement came nearly a month after the ICC ruled that it had jurisdiction over crimes committed in the Palestinian territories, including those occupied by Israel since 1967.
The ICC’s probe may pave the way for legal proceedings against Tel Aviv for war crimes in Palestinian territories.
“My Office welcomes the opportunity to engage with both the Government of Palestine and the Government of Israel to determine how justice may best be served within a framework of complementary domestic and international action,” chief prosecutor Bensouda said in her statement.
“In this way, we can hope to achieve some measure of accountability and justice for the benefit of Palestinian and Israeli victims of Rome Statute crimes,” she added.
For its part, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the decision of the ICC’s attorney general.
“This long-awaited step serves Palestine’s relentless endeavor to achieve justice and accountability as indispensable foundations for the peace that the Palestinian people demand and deserve,” the statement read.
It also said that the decision “demonstrates the court’s respect for its mandate and independence, and its commitment to the values and principles of criminal justice as stipulated in the Rome Statute.”
The Palestinian Authority (PA) welcomed the prosecutor’s investigation.
It is “a long-awaited step that serves Palestine’s tireless pursuit of justice and accountability, which are indispensable pillars of the peace the Palestinian people seek and deserve”, the PA foreign ministry said in a statement.
Hamas also praised the ICC’s move and defended its own actions.
“We welcome the ICC decision to investigate Israeli occupation war crimes against our people. It is a step forward on the path of achieving justice for the victims of our people,” Hazem Qassem, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, told Reuters news agency.
“Our resistance is legitimate and it comes to defend our people. All international laws approve legitimate resistance,” said Qassem.
“The ICC reached a decision which is the essence of anti-Semitism,” Netanyahu said in the video posted on Twitter.
From Ramallah, Omar Awadallah, head of the UN human rights department in the Palestinian ministry of foreign affairs, told Al Jazeera, that Israeli officials should be concerned by probe,
“We understand that Netanyahu and his war criminals should be afraid now from this important body and this important stance by the International Criminal Court,” Awadallah said.
Palestine is a party to the ICC’s founding treaty Rome Statute since 2015 and has long carried out diplomatic efforts for the investigation of alleged war crimes by Israel in the occupied territories.
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