Palestine asked criminal court to investigate settlements, Israel responded

NEWS DESK

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday that the Minister Riyad al-Maliki had submitted a formal request to the International Criminal Court to investigate violations for human rights related to Israeli settlement policies.

The request was delivered during a meeting held between al-Maliki and the prosecutor of the court Fatu Bensuda in the Dutch city of Hague according to the Palestinian WAFA news agency.

The agency mentioned that the request for legal referral includes the ongoing crimes committed by Israel which occurred in the past, present and any crimes that would be committed in the future, especially those associated with the illegal Israeli settlement system in the occupied Palestinian territories including the East Jerusalem."

Al-Maliki called on the criminal court to hold its duties towards the justice and accountability as it is the competent side to investigate the ongoing crimes related to the settlement system in addition to prosecuting the criminals responsible for these crimes.

For its part, Israel questioned the legal basis for Maliki's request to the International Criminal Court. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement, "Palestinian referrals have no legal basis, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is outside the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court because Israel is not a member of the court."

A.H

ANHA