The ICC Prosecution welcomes the court’s decision to impose its jurisdiction on the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967

The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday claimed jurisdiction over the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967.

The ICC prosecution, which welcomed the court’s decision, said in a statement reported by the Palestinian WAFA News Agency,  that it is carefully studying this move in order to later announce its decision on the next steps based on its completely  independent and unbiased mandate and on its obligations under the Rome Statute.”

In December 2019, Fatou Bensouda, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, announced  that she wanted to open a full investigation into war crimes in the Palestinian territories. She asked the court’s judges to confirm that the court’s jurisdiction includes the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, namely the West Bank, East of Al-Quds and Gaza Strip.

 Palestine’s Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh stressed that the ICC’s declaration on its jurisdiction over the occupied Palestinian territories is a message to the Israeli occupation that its crimes against the Palestinians will not be forgotten with the passage of time and that their perpetrators will not go unpunished.

On his part, the Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Al-Maleki described the ICC’s decision as a victory for Palestine, stressing that the timing of this move is very important as it comes amid the dangerous escalation of the Israeli occupation crimes against the Palestinian people.

 Al-Maleki told WAFA on Saturday that he discussed with the ICC prosecutor mechanisms to launch the work of the investigation teams in the occupied territories.

He pointed out that the ICC’s agenda of investigation includes the Israeli aggression on Gaza, the Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli jails and the Israeli settlement building activities.

Hamda Mustafa