The International Criminal Court(ICC) on Friday ruled that it has jurisdictions over Israeli-Palestianian occupation dispute and that it will commence criminal investigation into the matter.
According to information MRB online has gathered from international media such as Daily Sabah online and Aljazeera, ICC’s Chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has been investigating both sides of Israeli-Palestianian for war crimes since 2015.
Reads part of Daily Sabah online article: “Friday’s ruling could clear the way for a formal probe to be opened for actions that occurred in territories occupied by Israel.”
Bensouda in the ruling said in 2019 she was convinced that war crimes had been or were being committed in these areas, and that there was a reasonable basis to proceed an investigation.
“In 2018, the Palestinian government reffered a case to the ICC over Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, the killing of Palestinians during protests at Gaza-Israel boarder and Palestinian prisoners being held in Israel,” added the publication.
According to the Daily Sabah online’s publications, Israel seized control of the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the 1967 six-day war.
The Palestinians claim those territories as theirs and the East Jerusalem being their capital city.
Meanwhile, Israel government through its Israel Defence Forces(IDF) has reacted to the ICC’s judgement, terming it as a prejudicial and biased on a step already taken, which she says it is beyond the ICC’s jurisdictions.
“The IDF and the Chief of the General Staff regret the decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The State of Israel’s position is that this is a biased and prejudiced decision which steps beyond the ICC’s jurisdiction.
“The IDF has determinedly defended, and will continue to defend, the security of Israel and its citizens, in the face of every threat, while adhering fully to the IDF Code of Ethics, the values of the IDF, and national and international law,” IDF says in a statement.
