The International Criminal Court has jurisdiction over war crimes committed in the Palestinian territories, a ruling that was welcomed by Palestinians and criticized by Israel.
According to this ruling, the ICC would have jurisdiction to investigate potential war crimes commited in Palestinian territories.
Israel had been accused of committing atrocities in Palestinian Territories of West Bank and Gaza Strip since 1967.
Palestine joined the ICC in 2015 but remained silent towards the atrocities during the Trump administration.
It was because it didn’t want to end U.S. aid towards Palestinian Territories. It is notable that the US Congress was allowed to freeze US Aid in Palestinian territory if Palestine pursues its own legal matters.
The change of administration in the U.S. allowed it to be more focal in the ICC. The recent February 2021 ruling of ICC is a result of this changed stance.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the ruling saying that the ICC was investigating Israel for “fake war crimes”, calling it “pure anti-Semitism”.
He added that a court that was established to investigate atrocities like the Holocaust commited by Nazis, was now “targeting” a state for the Jewish people and was unwilling to investigate Iran and Syria who were committing “atrocities almost daily”.
The Judgement will ensure accountability and justice delivery in the region.
The Judgement will ensure that individuals and militant groups like Hamas are subjected to international law. Furthermore, it will impose adequate criminal responsibility on them.
Israel has been pushing its “good friend” India to take a stand against the ICC ruling, but Delhi is reluctant to do so given its own geopolitical interests.
Delhi has not responded to Netanyahu’s communication in this regard, but the report said a message was conveyed through diplomatic channels that since India is not a member of the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the ICC, “it would not want to comment or take a position on any of the court’s decisions or rulings.”
India’s stance may be unwelcome to Israel that considers the country to be an important partner and a ‘like-minded nation”.