The International Criminal Court, based in The Hague, recognized the Palestinian Authority as a member of the ICC Rome Statute, which dictates the locations that stand under the court’s jurisdiction. It recognized the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza as falling into the category and approved an investigation into alleged Israel ”war crimes.”
“Israel completely rejects the distorted and antisemitic decision taken by the International Criminal Court,” said Israel ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan.
The United States opposes the International Criminal Court’s attempts to affirm territorial jurisdiction over the Palestinian situation, stated the U.S. State Department after the ICC issued on Friday a decision claiming jurisdiction in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza and approving an investigation into Israel, citing ‘’war crimes.’’
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel s US correspondent based in New York
The Pre-Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC), composed of Judge Péter Kovács, Presiding Judge, Judge Marc Perrin de Brichambaut and Judge Reine Alapini-Gansou (courtesy ICC)
In a major decision released Friday, a pretrial chamber of the International Criminal Court determined that The Hague has jurisdiction to open a criminal investigation against Israel and the Palestinians for war crimes alleged to have taken place in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.
ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda indicated in 2019 that a criminal investigation, if approved, would focus on the 2014 Israel-Hamas conflict (Operation Protective Edge), on Israeli settlement policy and on the Israeli response to protests at the Gaza border.