Credit: UN Photo /  Rick Bajornas /  International Criminal Court  headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands

By Gary Raynaldo      DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

UNITED NATIONS   –  NEW  YORK –  The International Criminal Court (ICC) will undertake a formal criminal investigation into allegations of war crimes in Palestine, The Hague-based tribunal announced .

“The preliminary examination into the  situation in Palestine has concluded with the determination that all the statutory criteria under the  Rome Statute for the opening of an investigation have been met. I am satisfied that there is a reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation in the the situation in Palestine.”

-Fatou Bensouda,  chief prosecutor, International Criminal Court

Credit: INT.int /  Fatou Bensouda  /  International Criminal Court Prosecutor 

The ICC prosecutor said that before initiating a formal investigation, she would ask for a ruling by the Pre-Trial Chamber to confirm that the territory over which the Court may exercise its jurisdiction comprises the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza.

UN Says International Community Has Legal Obligation to  End Israeli Occupation 

An independent UN human rights expert this week hailed  the ICC decision to consider a formal criminal investigation into allegations of war crimes in Palestine as a “momentous step forward in the quest for accountability” in the five-decade-long Israeli occupation.

 “Accountability has, until now, been largely missing in action throughout the 52-year-old occupation,” said Michael Lynk, the Special Rapporteur for the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967.  Lynk maintained that although the international community has adopted hundreds of UN resolutions condemning various features of “Israel’s entrenched occupation of the Palestinian territory…rarely has it ever combined criticism with consequences for Israel”.   He added: “Now, the possibility of accountability is finally on the horizon”.

Israeli Occupation Is The Longest In The Modern World: UN Official

Speaking before the UN General Assembly in October 2019,  Lynk said the occupation is the longest in the modern world, that he characterized as a “strong sense of impunity” by Israel.  “Palestinians, along with Israelis of conscience, have been asking repeatedly for the international community to act decisively in support of international law to compel Israel to end the occupation and enable Palestinian self-determination. We can’t afford to ignore their call. This occupation will not die of old age.”

“The ICC Prosecutor’s Decision is Outrageous”:  ISRAEL FOREIGN MINISTRY

FM @Israel_katz: The ICC Prosecutor’s decision is outrageous and contradictory to international law.

It is unacceptable for the Prosecutor to bend international law in order to fit it to Palestinian propaganda and political agenda. pic.twitter.com/IJZtP8SV1Z

— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) December 20, 2019

“We utterly reject the Prosecutor’s decision and urge other countries to do so and to prevent the Court from turning into a political tool by the Palestinians in their fight against Israel’s right to exist and its right of self defense.”

-ISRAEL  FOREIGN  MINISTRY