The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague (ICC), Karim Khan, intends to visit "Palestine" during 2023. Khan said these things yesterday (Monday) in The Hague at the opening of the annual meeting of the assembly of member states of the court, in response to the calls addressed to him by Palestinian activists.
Khan did not give further details about the expected content of the visit but indicated that he intends to tour Afghanistan as well.
The reason for this is that in both cases there are investigation cases pending in the court, for many years.
If Khan does wish to come to the Palestinian Authority, he will have to obtain the approval of Israel, which controls all entrances to the Palestinian Territory.
Many years ago, Israel allowed a delegation from the tribunal to tour the area, but this was before mutual investigations against Israelis and Palestinians were opened at the tribunal, on charges of war crimes.
Since then, Israel has taken an official line of non-cooperation with the tribunal, which it does not recognize and in its opinion does not recognize its powers regarding the Israeli-Palestinian arena.
However, in recent years there have been quiet, apparently indirect contacts between the parties.
Karim Khan, photo: Reuters
Khan took office about a year and a half ago and since then has rarely dealt with the Israeli-Palestinian issue.
This is in contrast to its predecessor, which acted in a trend-setting manner against Israel.
If and when he asks to come, the political echelon will be faced with a difficult dilemma whether to allow him to enter and even present to him the Israeli view regarding the conflict and its legal aspects, or to continue the policy of ignoring.
It is estimated that the prosecutor's intention for a possible visit to Israel will influence Prime Minister Netanyahu's considerations when he comes to make decisions related to the Palestinian arena.
Khan's statement comes at a difficult time for the tribunal, whose status has been severely damaged recently and has been embroiled in a conflict with the European Union.
The Union decided to establish separate courts to investigate the war crimes that Russia allegedly committed in Ukraine during the war.
Khan is interested in holding the investigations and trials within the framework of his institution, and to this he devoted most of his remarks yesterday at the opening of the conference.
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