Palestine FM urges ICC to investigate alleged crimes in Israel’s ‘war of revenge’ in Gaza
The Hague, Oct 26 (EFE).- Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al Maliki on Thursday called on the International Criminal Court to investigate alleged war crimes committed by Israel during its “war of revenge” in the Gaza Strip.
Al Maliki was in the Hague, seat of the ICC and the UN tribunal, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), to meet with its authorities, including prosecutor Karim Khan, to urge him to investigate Israel’s alleged “violation of international laws.”
“This time, the war that Israel is waging is different. This time, the war is a war of revenge. This war has no real objective rather than the total destruction of every livable corner, place in Gaza,” al-Maliki told reporters.
Gaza has been pummeled by Israeli air strikes for the past 20 days since Hamas, the Islamist group that governs the Gaza Strip, launched an unprecedented attack on Oct. 7 against Israel, killing over 1,400 people. Hamas also took over 200 people hostage.
More than 7,000 people have died and over 18,000 have been injured in Gaza during Israel’s retaliatory bombardments, while hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced inside the enclave, where the United Nations says a “dire” humanitarian crisis is unfolding.
Israel has also imposed a siege of the Strip, cutting off water and electricity supplies.
“This war is not directed by military plans, there are no norms respected. All international rules of war are violated,” al-Maliki said, insisting that Israel’s alleged crimes are “so serious” that the ICC “must investigate.”
The ICC has since 2021 been investigating alleged war crimes against civilians in Israeli-occupied territories (which for the ICC includes the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip), committed by both the Israeli armed forces and Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups. Israel has refused to cooperate with prosecutor Khan’s office during the investigation.
Palestine ratified the Rome Statute, the ICC’s founding treaty, in 2015, but Israel, whose leaders have called the investigation “outrageous” and “anti-Semitic,” is not a party to the international tribunal and does not accept its jurisdiction. EFE
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