The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court says she is worried about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s vow to apply Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley.
Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda in the courtroom of the International Criminal Court (ICC) during the closing statements of the trial of Bosco Ntaganda, a Congo militia leader, in The Hague, Netherlands, August 28, 2018. (Bas Czerwinski/Pool via AP)
Fatou Bensouda’s office “followed with concern proposals advanced during the recent electoral process, to be tabled to the Knesset, for Israel to annex the Jordan Valley in the West Bank,” her office writes in her annual Report on Preliminary Examination Activities.
The ICC launched a preliminary examination into the “situation in Palestine” five years ago, leading Palestinian officials to complain that Bensouda is dragging her feet. In the report published Thursday, Bensouda says that the complicated issue needed more time.
“While the situation has been under preliminary examination for almost five years and has benefited from meaningful and constructive engagement with both the Palestinian and Israeli authorities, as well as numerous other actors, which have helped deepen the Office’s understanding and assessment of the situation, the Prosecutor also believes that it is time to take the necessary steps to bring the preliminary examination to a conclusion,” the report states.
— Raphael Ahren
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