The US State Department objected to the decision of the International Criminal Court on the grounds that its jurisdiction includes the occupied Palestinian territories, which could pave the way for an investigation into the commission of war crimes by the Israeli occupation.
Ministry spokesman Ned Price expressed his country's concerns about the court’s attempt to exercise its jurisdiction over the Israeli military, and said, "We have always adopted a position that the court’s jurisdiction should exclusively include countries that accept it or cases referred by the UN Security Council to the court."
"We do not believe that the Palestinians are qualified as a sovereign state, and therefore they are not eligible to obtain membership as a state or participate as a state in international organizations, entities, or conferences, including the International Criminal Court," Price said in a statement.
The Palestinian government welcomed the decision, and Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh considered the decision a "victory for justice, humanity, the values of truth, justice and freedom, and fairness for the blood of the victims and their families."
"The decision is a message to the perpetrators of crimes that their crimes will not be subject to the statute of limitations, and that they will not go unpunished," the prime minister said, considering that it was a victory for the same court that thwarted Israel's attempt to politicalize its deliberations.
Shtayyeh called on the court to speed up its judicial procedures in the files brought before it, which include the crimes committed by Israel during its three wars on the Gaza Strip, in addition to the prisoners' and settlement files.
Israeli condemnation
On the other hand, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the decision of the International Criminal Court, and considered that it "weakens the ability of democratic countries to defend themselves in the face of terrorism."
In a series of tweets, Netanyahu added that the International Criminal Court had proven "once again that it is a political institution, not a judicial body," and that it ignores "real war crimes."
On Friday, the Pre-Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued a majority decision regarding the spatial jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court in Palestine.
In a statement on its official website, the circuit said that its jurisdiction extends to the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, and the decision is based on the fact that Palestine is a member of the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court.
This decision means that the public prosecutor at the court can now start a new phase of investigations that may lead to indictments being brought against those accused of war crimes committed by the occupation authorities against the Palestinians.