Palestinians brief international court reps on settlements

Palestinians met Saturday with representatives of the International Criminal Court to brief them on the details of claims filed against Israel at the court which they hope will lead to the opening of formal cases and investigations of Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Palestinians provided the ICC team with data and aerial photographs of settlement activity and how it effects their lives, Haaretz reported on Sunday citing the Jordanian newspaper Al-Ghad.

The ICC officials’ agenda is a long one, including settlements, East Jerusalem, Israeli actions in the West Bank city of Hebron, as well as additional complaints covering Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, the blockade of the Gaza Strip, the repeated wars fought between the IDF and Hamas in the coastal enclave, environmental issues, water resources, land expropriations and clashes with settlers.

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The firebombing of a Palestinian West Bank village in 2015 by suspected Jewish terrorists that resulted in the deaths of three members of the Dawabsha family, as well as the kidnapping and slaying of East Jerusalem Palestinian teen Mohammed Abu Khdeir in 2014 were also to be brought to the attention of the visitors.

Palestinian lawyers and activists from the Palestinian Authority’s committee handling cases submitted to the international court were to continue holding meetings with the ICC representatives until Monday.

If ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda decides to open an investigation, Palestinians believe it could lead to an investigation of top Israeli officials, including Netanyahu, the report said.

International Criminal Court prosecutor Fatou Bensouda (Andreas Rentz/Getty Images/ via JTA)

In a controversial move opposed by Israel, the Palestinian Authority joined the ICC in January 2015, paving the way to lodge complaints, although Israel is not a signatory to the court. Jerusalem has nonetheless indicated it is willing to work with ICC officials.

Last October, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met personally with Bensouda in The Hague and presented her with a dossier alleging killings and collective punishment allegedly meted out by Israel. The file came in addition to other documents handed over by Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki in June that year to back up Palestinian calls for an investigation into Israeli actions during the summer 2014 conflict in Gaza when the IDF battled against Hamas-led terror groups in Gaza. Palestinians also want the court to investigate Israel over the situation in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Israel lost 66 soldiers, six Israeli civilians and a Thai agricultural worker in the month-long conflict, while the Palestinian death toll surpassed 2,100, according to Hamas officials in Gaza. Israel said about half of the Gaza dead were gunmen and blamed Hamas for all civilian deaths because it operated against Israel from residential areas, placing Gazans in harm’s way.

Bensouda opened a preliminary inquiry into the claims to determine if there was enough cause to continue with a formal investigation. The visiting ICC representatives were part of an initial probe into the West Bank settlements and East Jerusalem cases.