ICC: Abbas ripping up Oslo Accords doesn’t change war crimes probe

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court says Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s statement that the Oslo Accords are no longer valid due to Israeli threats of annexation does not change her view that the “State of Palestine” can transfer criminal jurisdiction over its territory to The Hague.

In a written statement, Fatou Bensouda says that Abbas’s speech has no bearing “on the status of Palestine as a State Party to the Rome Statute and on the exercise of the court’s jurisdiction in the situation in Palestine.”

Last month, Abbas said during speech in Ramallah that Palestine is not bound by any agreements with Israel. After the ICC asked for clarifications regarding the status of the Oslo Accords, the PA said that all agreements will be considered null and void if Israel goes ahead with its annexation plans.

She reiterates her concern over Jerusalem’s stated intention to annex parts of the West Bank, but adds that any such move “has no legal validity and the law of occupation continues to apply.”

It is now up to a pre-trial chamber with three judges to rule whether the court has or does not have jurisdiction to proceed with an investigation into war crimes committed in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.

— Raphael Ahren