The Palestinian Foreign Ministry welcomes the announcement by the International Criminal Court that the initial study phase has ended with an investigation into the crimes of the occupation

Occupied Jerusalem-Sana

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the announcement by the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court that the preliminary study phase has ended with an investigation into "war crimes" of the Israeli occupation in the Palestinian territories.

The Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by Wafa Agency today that this step is the first of its kind taken by the Prosecutor since it announced the start of the initial study on January 16, 2015, noting that it is an important development to open an investigation into the crimes of the Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The Foreign Ministry considered that it is the right of the Palestinian people to demand all means of fairness and justice provided by international law, including asylum in the International Criminal Court, given the urgent necessity and magnitude of the situation in Palestine, which cannot be subject to further delay.

The Foreign Ministry demanded the necessity of issuing an urgent judgment from the Pre-Trial Chamber I in line with the time frame specified in the ICC Practices Manual, which it believes will allow the Prosecutor to proceed with the opening of the criminal investigation without any additional delay, confirming that it will continue to cooperate with the court until justice is done to the victims of the people Palestinian and hold Israeli officials accountable for their crimes.

The International Criminal Court today announced the opening of a comprehensive investigation into war crimes committed by the occupation authorities in the Palestinian territories.