PA hands Israel ‘war crimes’ files to international court

Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki handed International Criminal Court prosecutors a file Thursday detailing alleged Israeli war crimes in Gaza and relating to settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, in a move Israel called an attempt “manipulate and politicize” the ICC.

The move by the Palestinians marked a first step toward opening criminal proceedings against the Jewish state, and came days after a UN panel found Israel could be guilty of war crimes during fighting in Gaza last summer.

The file, based on findings by a Palestinian commission of inquiry and information from non-government groups, feeds into a preliminary investigation by ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda into possible crimes on Palestinian-claimed territory.

“This is a Palestinian attempt to manipulate and politicize the judicial mechanisms of the ICC,” said Emmanuel Nahshon, spokesman of the Israeli Foreign Ministry. “We hope that the prosecutor will not fall in that trap.”

Bensouda’s initial probe aims to establish if there is enough evidence to merit opening a full-scale investigation that could ultimately lead to charges against both Israelis and Palestinians. It is not clear how long the process will take.

Maliki said the information forms “a compelling case for the prompt opening of an investigation.”

He said it included details on Israel’s settlements and military offensive throughout the territories, particularly last year’s Gaza War, and also outlined allegations of crimes committed against Palestinian prisoners.

A team of ICC investigators is scheduled to arrive in Israel by the end of the month to examine the Palestinian allegations, though Israeli officials have described the visit as routine.

The files presented by Maliki are intended to aid Bensouda in deciding whether or not to upgrade the preliminary probe into a full investigation of criminal activity.

A decision to order a full investigation can only come from judges in the ICC’s pretrial department.

The filing “confirms that the absence of accountability has led to the recurrence of violations and crimes and will continue to do so if gone unchecked,” the Palestinians said in a statement before the filing.

Should the review lead to an investigation, the court may also look into crimes allegedly committed by the Palestinians as well.

The Palestinian Authority officially joined the International Criminal Court on April 1, after having signed the court’s founding treaty, the Rome Statute, last December.

Though Israel is not a member of the court, cases could be brought before it against Israeli individuals suspected of war crimes committed in territory claimed by the Palestinians.

In January, Bensouda initiated an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by Israel during last summer’s war between Israel and armed factions in Gaza.

On Monday, a report by the UN Human Rights Council found Israel and Palestinian groups could have committed war crimes, and urged The Hague to launch an investigation. The council’s report is also being studied by investigators at the ICC.

Israel has dubbed the Palestinians’ joining the court as “scandalous,” with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning that it turns the ICC “into part of the problem and not part of the solution.”

Israel also firmly rejected allegations of war crimes in Gaza, blaming Gaza’s Hamas rulers for the violence. Netanyahu dismissed the UNHRC report as biased, skewed and flawed.

Meanwhile, the Israeli non-governmental organization Shurat Hadin-Israel Law Center has begun collecting incriminating information on Palestinian leaders as a deterrent measure at the ICC.

Earlier this week Shurat Hadin petitioned the ICC demanding that the court disqualify Bensouda from dealing with the matter because she has already made comments to the media about the Israeli-Palestinian situation, contravening the court’s own guidelines, the Hebrew-language Ynet website reported.

Elhanan Miller contributed to this report.