• In a statement, the embassy said the decision conforms to the principles of international law and opens the door to the pursuit of criminal accountability
• The mission said it is committed to working with all parties to the Rome Statute on protecting and defending the integrity and independence of the court
The Embassy of Palestine has welcomed the decision of the ICC pre-trial chamber on the jurisdiction of the court over the entirety of the territory of the State of Palestine comprising the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.
In a statement, the embassy said the decision conforms to the principles of international law and opens the door to the pursuit of criminal accountability for the “most egregious crimes” under the court’s mandate, which have been and continue to be committed against the Palestinian people.
“The Honorable Judges of the Pre-Trial Chamber have displayed respect to their mandate and independence, commitment to the values and principles of criminal accountability as embodied in the Rome Statute, and courage, impervious to unprecedented acts of outright hostility and intimidation.”
“Over the past three years, the impartiality and independence of the Court have been tested with unparalleled enmity and punitive measures. Yet, the Court has proven that its commitment to the values and principles of accountability outweigh all these measures,” the embassy said.
The mission said it is committed to working with all parties to the Rome Statute on protecting and defending the integrity and independence of the court from all attempts at exerting undue influence.
“The Embassy also stands ready to cooperate with and extend all assistance to the prosecutor and the court during the investigation into Israeli crimes, which should start in short order. This is a historic day for the principle of criminal accountability,” the statement said.
The International Criminal Court decided on Friday that it has jurisdiction over crimes committed in the Palestinian territories.
“Today, Pre-Trial Chamber I of ICC decided, by majority, that the Court's territorial jurisdiction in the Situation in Palestine, a State party to the ICC Rome Statute, extends to the territories occupied by Israel since 1967,” the ICC said in a statement.
The UN General Assembly in Resolution 67/19 "[reaffirmed] the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and to independence in their State of Palestine on the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967," the statement said.
Based on the relevant UN resolution, the ICC found that the Court has territorial jurisdiction in Gaza City and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
This even as the African Union condemned the “discriminatory Israeli legal system and its arbitrary measures and sentences on Palestinian detainees and prisoners, especially children, women, the elderly and the sick, which deprive them of the minimum rights guaranteed by international human rights law and norms”.
In its declaration on the situation in Palestine and the Middle East the AU condemned what it termed as systematic and widespread policy of ethnic cleansing practiced by the Israeli occupation against Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem, through eviction orders, home demolitions, revocation of residency rights and discriminatory policies.
It called upon the Israeli occupation to release all Palestinian and Arab detainees and prisoners in Israeli jails immediately and unconditionally.
Palestinian territories, including the West Bank and East Jerusalem, have been under Israeli occupation since 1967. The occupation is considered illegal under international law.
The AU regretted that Israel persists with the occupation in all of its illegal manifestations, including its relentless pursuit of colonisation and annexation measures. It also said that Israel continues to act in bad faith and in total contradiction of ending the occupation and continues to systematically violate UN Security Council and General Assembly resolutions.