From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
State Dept. says US doesn’t back Palestinian ICC push
State Department Spokeswoman Jen Psaki says that the US doesn’t support the Palestinian effort to try Israel at the International Criminal Court for war crimes, stating that Washington opposed unilateral steps by either side.
Psaki notes that this wasn’t the first time the issue has been raised by the Palestinian Authority, and comments that, for the time being, efforts should be focused on reaching a stable ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip.
For its part, the ICC says in a statement that “Palestine is not a State Party to the Rome Statute; neither has the Court received any official document from Palestine indicating acceptance of ICC jurisdiction or requesting the Prosecutor to open an investigation into any alleged crimes following the adoption of the United Nations General Assembly Resolution (67/19) on 29 November 2012, which accorded non-member observer State status to Palestine.”
The ICC says that it “has no jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed on the territory of Palestine.”
The Times of Israel Community.