Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel.
Is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also going to be prosecuted for human war crimes for killing thousands of civilians in the massive air strikes on Gaza or will a case of war crimes be made against Palestine for killing Israeli civilians. What do the statements of Palestine Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki indicate? He said on Thursday that he fully supports the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into the Palestinian territories. He has also called for a complete ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid to be delivered to the Gaza Strip.
The International Court of Justice, based in The Hague, investigates and prosecutes war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity against individuals. Al-Maliki met with Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan during a two-day visit to the Netherlands to drum up international support for the ICC investigation. Asked by journalists whether he would cooperate with the court’s investigation into Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attacks in southern Israel, al-Maliki said the Palestinian Authority would not interfere in the investigation. He said, “We cannot say that investigation should be done here and investigation should not be done there.”
Investigation of a similar crime is going on since 2021.
The issue of attack on Gaza is new. But even before that, the International Court of Justice opened an investigation in 2021 into alleged crimes in the Palestinian territories, focusing on the military campaign against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip and the expansion of Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank. Khan confirmed last week that his decision would also apply to Palestinians who had committed crimes against the Israeli people. The investigation focused on the last major conflict in Gaza, but may also look into allegations of war crimes in the current Israel-Hamas conflict.
Know Israel’s logic
Israel argues that the ICC has no jurisdiction over the conflict because Palestine is not an independent sovereign state. Israel is not a party to the treaty that supports the International Court of Justice. Israel is not included among its 123 member states. He urged world leaders to support a UN General Assembly resolution by Arab countries calling for a ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid. The Palestinian delegation in The Hague also spoke at the International Court of Justice, which is considering the legality of Israeli policies in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. More than 1,400 people have been killed in Israel in the current conflict, most of whom were killed in the initial attack by Hamas. According to al-Maliki, about 7,000 people have been killed and more than 20 thousand have been injured in Israel’s retaliation. (AP)
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