The International Criminal Court in The Hague ruled on the 5th local time that the court has jurisdiction over war crimes committed in the Palestinian territory, which will pave the way for a possible next criminal investigation against Israel – a ruling that has been warmly welcomed by the Palestinian side and firmly strengthened by Israel. No.
In its ruling of the 5th, the International Criminal Court pointed out that since Palestine has become a party to the International Criminal Court, the jurisdiction of the Court has been extended to the territories occupied by Israel since 1967.
However, the International Criminal Court also stressed that the ruling does not represent the determination of Palestinian statehood or national borders.
Regarding the ruling, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said on the 6th that this was a “historic victory” for Palestinians and a heavy blow to Israel.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ashtiyeh also praised the ruling of the International Criminal Court as a victory for the values of justice, humanity and freedom, and that Israel will certainly be punished for its crimes.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu condemned the ruling for two consecutive days on the 5th and 6th – Netanyahu said on the 6th that the false war crimes investigation launched by the International Criminal Court against Israel was “totally a political act” and “purely anti-Semitism”, and Israel has always believed that the International Criminal Court “It is supposed to only accept requests for investigation from sovereign states”, Israel is a sovereign state, “but there is no Palestinian state in the world today”.
The International Criminal Court was established on July 1, 2002 under the Rome Statute, and Israel has not acceded to the Rome Statute so far.
In April 2015, Palestine officially acceded to the Rome Statute and became its 123rd party. After that, the Palestinian side asked the International Criminal Court to “investigate the crimes committed by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory since 13 June 2014”.
On 20 December last year, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Ben Soud, announced that, at the request of the Palestinian side, the Office of the
Prosecutor was ready to launch a preliminary investigation into war crimes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and to submit a decision by the Pre-Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court on the jurisdiction of the territory concerned – specifically
That is, to ask the court to confirm that the “territory” that can be investigated includes East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
