Palestine Welcomes Chile And Mexico's Call For ICC Probe In To "Continued Commission Of Crimes" In Gaza (image@ UNRWA)
Palestinian Foreign Ministry said it supports Chile and Mexico’s request for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the crimes against civilians of Gaza during the current brutal war. In a statement posted on its X (formerly twitter), it said, “the court must fulfil its mandate towards Palestinian victims and ensure justice for crimes committed by Israeli officials, without fear or favour”.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry’s statement urged the ICC to “deter, investigate, and prosecute the most serious crimes of concern for the international community”. The statement said Israel is using “starvation as a method of war as its officials felt emboldened to publicly state their intent to destroy the Palestinian people”. It said that the Israeli officials are not deterred as they continue their genocidal war.
In their appeal to ICC, Mexico and Chile said that there was “growing concern over the latest escalation of violence, particularly against civilian targets, and the alleged continued commission of crimes under the Court’s jurisdiction”. It is added that the court based in The Hague was the proper forum to establish potential criminal responsibility by citing “numerous reports from the United Nations that detail many incidents that could constitute crimes under the ICC’s jurisdiction”. During a news conference at Santiago, Chile Foreign Minister, Alberto van Klaveren said that “the investigation of any possible war crime…whether they are war crimes committed by Israelis or by Palestinians”.
📄 El día de hoy, México y Chile, remitieron al fiscal de la Corte Penal Internacional la situación del Estado de Palestina, a fin de que investigue la probable comisión de crímenes de su competencia.
La acción de México y Chile obedece a la creciente preocupación por la última… pic.twitter.com/w9A90pRUgS
— Relaciones Exteriores (@SRE_mx) January 18, 2024
Mexico stated about closely following South Africa’s case against Israeli of committing genocide in Gaza in the International Court of Justice (ICJ). South Africa demanded that the court order an emergency suspension of Israel’s military campaign. Israel rejected the accusation and said that, Israel is “in war of defence against Hamas and not against the Palestinians”.
ICC has opened an investigation into Israel, Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups for possible war crimes in the Palestinian territories in 2021. In November, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan said that the investigation now “extends to the escalation of hostilities and violence” since October 7. ICJ and ICC handle cases of genocide, while the former resolves disputes between states, the latter prosecute individuals for crimes. It is pertinent to note that, Israel is not a member of the ICC and does not recognise the court’s jurisdiction.
