On Thursday, Israel officially announced that it would not recognize the authority of the International Criminal Court, which intends to investigate possible war crimes in the Palestinian territories, and said that it "will not cooperate with the international court, which does not have any authority to open an investigation against it."
A statement issued by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office stated that Tel Aviv would send a letter to the court stating that it was "acting without authority."
And earlier yesterday, the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported that Netanyahu held a meeting with Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit about the criminal investigation.
The newspaper stated that at the end of the meeting, it was decided that Israel would explain to the Prosecutor of the Court, Fatou Bensouda, that it had no authority to open an investigation against Israel, and that it would refuse to cooperate in this regard.
In a speech delivered on Wednesday, Netanyahu described the ICC investigation as "absurd," and said that "the court has transformed from an entity that protects human rights to an entity that protects those who trample on human rights."
A month ago, Israel received a letter from the International Criminal Court, detailing the scope of its investigation that it decided to launch into the situation in Palestine.
The court gave Israel 30 days to respond to its letter, as the Palestinian Authority welcomed the decision, while Tel Aviv strongly condemned it and requested its revocation.
The court will investigate on suspicion that Israeli officials have committed war crimes and other crimes against humanity in the occupied Palestinian territories, as it briefly presented the court's letter to the three main areas it intends to cover, namely the war on Gaza in 2014, settlement policy, and the Great March of Return protests (2018) in Gaza.
Israel, which is not a member state of the court, has repeatedly announced that it opposes any authority for the court to investigate the situation in Palestine.
In the context, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor strongly condemned the Israeli decision, and said - in a statement - that it is "the result of the authorities' awareness that their army committed violations that may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, which explains their attempts not to cooperate with any international investigations, with the aim of avoiding accountability." ".