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Revision as of 07:18, 25 December 2019 by Buidhe (talk | contribs) (→Report)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)On 20 December 2019, International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced an investigation into alleged war crimes committed during the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Background
A preliminary investigation had been ongoing since 2015. Israel is not a member of ICC, but the State of Palestine was allowed to join in 2015. Israel has argued that the court does not apply to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict because Palestine is not a state, as Israeli attorney general Avichai Mandelblit argued in a brief released hours before Bensouda's announcement.
On three previous occasions, Bensouda has refused to open investigations against Israel related to the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid.
Report
According to Bensouda, the criteria for a full investigation had all been met, but jurisdiction had not been established. Bensouda stated, "I am satisfied that war crimes have been or are being committed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip".
According to Bensouda's report, the Israeli judicial system already makes provision for punishing those accused of war crimes—meaning that the ICC may not have jurisdiction over alleged Israeli violations. Bensouda also found "a reasonable basis to believe that members of Hamas and Palestinian armed groups" are guilty of war crimes, but these groups have no mechanism for punishing such violations.
Israel is accused of illegally establishing West Bank settlements and violating the laws of war during the 2014 Gaza War, including claims of targeting Red Cross installations. Palestinian security forces in the West Bank are accused of torturing detainees and paying convicted terrorists (the Palestinian Authority Martyrs Fund). Armed Palestinian organizations are accused of deliberately attacking Israeli civilians and using Palestinians as human shields.
Reactions
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the investigation as "a black day for truth and justice" and "pure antisemitism", while Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth denounced "The Hague's hypocrisy" in a headline.
United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated, "We firmly oppose this and any other action that seeks to target Israel unfairly."
The Palestinian Authority issued a statement declaring that "Palestine welcomes this step as a long overdue step to move the process forward towards an investigation, after nearly five long and difficult years of preliminary examination".
References
- ^ Ahren, Raphael (23 December 2019). "The Hague vs. Israel: Everything you need to know about the ICC Palestine probe". Times of Israel. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
- ^ "ICC to probe alleged war crimes in Palestinian areas, pending jurisdiction". Reuters. 21 December 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
- ^ Beaumont, Peter (20 December 2019). "ICC to investigate alleged Israeli and Palestinian war crimes". The Guardian.
- "ICC Prosecutor gives Hague Court Israel's brief". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 25 December 2019.