epa04818400 The Foreign Minister of the Palestinian Authority, Riyad al-Maliki (C) leaves the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, The Netherlands, 25 June 2015. The State of Palestine officially presented its first communication of information to the International Criminal Court. The communication includes two main files, one dedicated to Israeli Colonization in the Occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and another one with extensive information about Israeli crimes in the besieged Gaza. EPA/ROBIN VAN LONKHUIJSEN EPA/ROBIN VAN LONKHUIJSEN
JERUSALEM: Israel on Tuesday questioned the legal validity of a Palestinian request to the International Criminal Court to investigate alleged human rights violations linked to Israeli settlement policies in occupied territories.
“The purported Palestinian referral is legally invalid, and the ICC lacks jurisdiction over the Israeli-Palestinian issue, since Israel is not a member of the Court and because the Palestinian Authority is not a state,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement, calling the move a “cynical step”.
