ICC mulls war crimes charges against Israel, Palestinians amid ongoing violence
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda will examine acts of violence and incitement by Israelis and Palestinians in the last month to see if they could be considered war crimes that fall within the court’s jurisdiction.
Bensouda agreed to probe Israeli and Palestinian actions at the request of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. He met with her at the Hague in The Netherlands on Friday and handed her a dossier of alleged new evidence against Israel.
Bensouda said she will “examine whether any of the newly reported incidents of violence constitute crimes falling within the jurisdiction of the ICC, and for the same purpose, will continue to record any new instances of violence or incitement to violence that may occur in the future.”
During the meeting, Bensouda “underscored that innocent people have been injured and killed on both sides, and cautioned that the situation may further degenerate into a large-scale commission of war crimes that may fall within the jurisdiction of the ICC,” her office said.
Further, she “warned that anyone – on either side – who commits, orders, incites, encourages or contributes in any other way to the commission of crimes falling within the jurisdiction of the ICC is liable to prosecution either at the national level or at the court.”
Referring to the recent escalation of tensions between Israel and the Palestinians, Bensouda “stressed the need for calm and restraint from all sides, and an end to the violence.”
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