US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reiterated his country's opposition to any investigations carried out by the International Criminal Court in the occupied territories, describing them as illegal.
This came against the background of the announcement by the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, that the jurisdiction of the court includes the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, and thus its acceptance to investigate possible war crimes committed by Israelis in the Palestinian territories.
Pompeo warned - in a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs - that if the court continues to follow the same path, Washington will bear the consequences of that.
He pointed out that Israel and the United States are not members of the Rome Statute by which the court was established, adding that the Palestinians do not have a sovereign state, and they are not entitled to full membership in the International Criminal Court.
| The International Criminal Prosecutor's Office issued a report confirming Palestine's right to go to the criminal court (Getty Images) |
Decision and welcome
At the end of last month, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court issued the report of the Pre-Trial Chamber I, which affirmed Palestine's right to go to the criminal court.
The 60-page report explains the reasons and how the court can exercise jurisdiction over crimes committed on the territory of Palestine.
The report clearly defines the geographic jurisdiction of the court over Palestine, and makes the criminal investigation process closer than any other time, and Palestine welcomed this step and considered it a courageous step in the right direction towards opening the investigation.
It is noteworthy that last December, Bensouda decided to open an investigation into war crimes committed by Israel in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.