ICC to investigate war crimes in Palestinian Territories
The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) took a major step Friday toward opening an investigation into alleged war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories, asking judges exactly what territory a future investigation could cover. “I am satisfied that there is a reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation into the situation in Palestine,” chief prosecutor Bensouda said in a statement.
THE HAGUE (Reuters/ AP) — The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor said on Friday she will launch a full investigation into alleged war crimes in the Palestinian Territories, which could include charges against Israelis or Palestinians.
“I am satisfied that … war crimes have been or are being committed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip,” Fatou Bensouda said in a statement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the ICC has no jurisdiction to investigate in the Palestinian Territories.
“The court has no jurisdiction in this case. The ICC only has jurisdiction over petitions submitted by sovereign states. But there has never been a Palestinian state,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
Bensouda said the preliminary examination into alleged war crimes, opened in 2015, had rendered enough information to meet all criteria for opening an investigation.
The ICC prosecutor said she had filed a request with judges for a jurisdictional ruling, because of the contested legal and factual status of the Palestine territories.
The ICC has the authority to hear cases of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of the 123 countries that have signed up to it.
Israel has not joined the court but the Palestinian Authority — a limited self-rule body in the Israeli-occupied West Bank — has done so.
The announcement ended years of preliminary investigations into alleged crimes by both Israeli forces and Palestinians and signaled that Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda is preparing to open a formal probe.
It drew swift condemnation from Israel, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling it “a dark day for truth and justice.”
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed it as “a long overdue step to move the process forward towards an investigation, after nearly five long and difficult years of preliminary examination.”
