ICC Prosecutor says Israeli smear campaigns will not affect her office’s work on Palestine

The Hague (QNN)- Confronting an Israeli smear campaign against her investigation, Fatou Bensouda, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), on Friday stressed that “misinformation and smear campaigns do not change facts about the conduct of my Office’s work concerning the situation in Palestine.”

“Fact: my office is executing its mandate concerning Palestine situation with utmost professionalism, independence and objectivity in strict conformity with the Rome Statute. Any insinuation or assertion to the contrary is simply misled and unfounded”, Bensouda added on Twitter.

The ICC Prosecutor decided on December 20 that “war crimes have been or are being committed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip,” and that “there are no substantial reasons to believe that an investigation would not serve the interests of justice.”

Last week, she stressed in a 60-page document that “the [ICC] court has jurisdiction over the Occupied Palestinian Territory”. The occupation state started an incitement campaign against Bensouda and the ICC, accusing them of being a tool for the Palestinian people even before the start of the investigation.

The Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, who leads the cabinet’s handling of the ICC file, accused her of fabricating her position based on false propaganda information stemming from her hatred of ‘Israel’.

“I am forced to conclude that the prosecutor’s latest position continues to espouse her typical anti-Israel stance, as influenced by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the global BDS [Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions] movement,” Steinitz was reported as saying by the Times of Israel.

Several human rights organizations and journalists documented Israeli acts in Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem that amount to war crimes.