Palestinian Foreign Ministry calls ICC to speed up probe in Israel’s war crimes

Occupied Palestine (QNN)-The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates has called on the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to speed up opening an investigation into Israeli war crimes committed against the Palestinian people in the Israeli-occupied territories.

The Ministry said in a statement that the demolitions are “a war crime and a crime against humanity, to which international law holds accountable all those responsible for them because they are one of the most egregious violations and crimes that have devastating effects on the lives, economy, and the future of Palestinian citizens.”

Israeli demolitions cover most of the occupied territories and are concentrated in occupied Jerusalem, surrounding areas, and in the Jordan Valley, said the Foreign Ministry, which leaves no doubt that Israel is proceeding with steps to annex Palestinian territories and to impose Israeli law in these areas in violation of international law, international humanitarian law, and the Geneva Conventions.

It said the international community should not stay quiet to these crimes and be content with issuing condemnation statements, which encourages Israel to continue with its violations and disregard for international law.

The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, has urged ‘Israel’ to halt the demolition and seizure of Palestinian property throughout the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in a briefing to the Security Council on the situation in the Middle East.

Wennesland also said that Israeli occupation authorities “demolished or seized 170 Palestinian-owned structures in Area C and 10 in East Jerusalem, displacing some 314 Palestinians, including 67 women and 177 children. The demolitions were carried out due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, which are nearly impossible for Palestinians to obtain.”

Earlier this month, the International Criminal Court said that its jurisdiction extends to territories occupied by ‘Israel’ in the 1967 war, clearing the way for its chief prosecutor to open a war crimes probe into Israeli war crimes.

“The Court’s territorial jurisdiction in the Situation in Palestine … extends to the territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem,” the judges said.

The ICC’s chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, said in 2019 that there was a reasonable basis to open a war crimes probe into Israeli war crimes against native Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as well as Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank.

But she asked the court to determine whether she has territorial jurisdiction before proceeding with the case.

Palestine has asked the court to look into Israeli war crimes during its 2014 war against the Gaza Strip, when the Israelis killed 2147 Palestinians including women and children, and wounded 10870 others, as well as Israel’s construction of settlements in the occupied West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem. Israeli settlements are illegal under international law.