The Hague justice declares itself competent to investigate war crimes in Palestine

Eviction of Palestinian families by the Israeli Army, on Wednesday in Humsa al Baqaia (West Bank) .Majdi Mohammed / AP

The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday declared its jurisdiction over war crimes committed in the Palestinian territories.

The decision opens the door to the opening of an investigation against Israel, which is not a signatory country to the Rome Statute, the treaty by which it founded the Court in 2002. The Jewish State challenges said jurisdiction, considering that Palestine is not a State internationally recognized.

Since July 2015, the Palestinian Authority has joined the Rome Statute.

The jurisdiction for the inquiries also extends to the actions of Palestinian militias such as Hamas or the Islamic Jihad.

After nearly five years of stalemate, the global criminal justice machine was launched in December 2019, when ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda asked the court to open a war crimes inquiry.

"There are rational indications to proceed with an investigation into the situation in Palestine," he specified, due to the intervention of the Israeli Armed Forces and Palestinian militias.

"I am convinced that war crimes have been or are being committed in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem," concluded Bensouda, before asking the judges to rule on their "territorial jurisdiction" before the "very disputed legal and factual situation ”existing on the ground.

By two votes to one, the judges in the preliminary questions chamber who have examined your petition have finally decided that, in accordance with international criminal justice law, the ICC declares itself competent to investigate war crimes in Palestine. , without this presupposing considering it as a State or determining its borders.

"The jurisdiction of the Court over the situation in Palestine extends to the territories occupied since 1967," the resolution states.

"The chamber does not have the authority to challenge and review the result of the accession procedure."

Consequently, the prosecution in The Hague has the endorsement of the resolution to open a formal investigation for war crimes in Palestine.

The announcement has fallen like a jug of cold water in Israel in the middle of the Jewish holiday of the Sabbath, marked by official inactivity.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed the ICC on Friday for "violating the ability of democratic countries to defend themselves against terrorism."

"The court has demonstrated once again that it is a political body and not a judicial institution," the president warned in a statement.

"Despite legal harassment, Israel will continue to protect its citizens and soldiers by all means."

Israel has argued that the Hague criminal court has no jurisdiction over Israel, which did not sign the Rome Statute.

The Israeli attorney general ruled that the legal actions presented by Palestine, which since 2015 has been subject to the jurisdiction of the ICC, “are not valid”, since the Palestinian Authority is not “a sovereign state in accordance with the law international ”and therefore does not meet the criteria to intervene before that court.

Following the incorporation of Palestine into the jurisdiction of the ICC, in July 2015, the Hague prosecutor's office initiated preliminary proceedings on the expansion of settlements and the demolition of Palestinian homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and on the 2014 war in Gaza (in which 2,500 Palestinians, two-thirds of them civilians, lost their lives).

The investigations in the Strip may also implicate the militias of the enclave for the massive firing of rockets indiscriminately against the Israeli civilian population during the conflict.

These proceedings, initiated from documents provided by the Palestinian Authority and various NGOs, also respond to a Palestinian lawsuit for the death of nearly 300 protesters as a result of the shooting by Israeli troops on the Gaza border between 2018 and 2019, as well as on the threat of eviction and expulsion from their homes of Bedouin families in the West Bank.

Charges against Israeli military and civilians

Above all, the Hebrew Government fears that the opening of an international criminal investigation in The Hague could lead to indictments against Israeli military and civil officials as suspected of having committed war crimes or crimes against humanity in Palestinian territories.

Consequently, they may be arrested abroad on the basis of arrest warrants issued by The Hague.

The ICC lacks its own police force to enforce its resolutions and requires the cooperation of the States to carry them out.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry was immediately ready to collaborate with the judges and in a statement celebrated the court's decision on "a historic day for the principle of responsibility" of nations.

"It is a victory for law, justice and moral values," added the Minister of Civil Affairs, Hussein al Sheikh, responsible for relations with Israel in the Palestinian Authority.

The US State Department expressed "grave concern" over the expansion of the ICC's jurisdiction to Palestine. The previous Administration of President Donald Trump announced the imposition of sanctions on prosecutor Bensouda and the members of the court in the expectation that Israel would be investigated for war crimes in the Palestinian territories. The decision of the preliminary questions chamber of the International Criminal Court seems to have been paralyzed pending the replacement in the White House.