The International Criminal Court (ICC) announced on March 3 that they are officially launching a war crimes investigation into Israel over the treatment
The International Criminal Court (ICC) announced on March 3 that they are officially launching a war crimes investigation into Israel over the treatment of Palestinians. ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said in a statement that the investigation would focus on June 2014 onward, a month before the beginning of Operation Protective Edge but a day after Hamas kidnapped and murdered three Israeli teenagers. “Our central concern must be for the victims of crimes, both Palestinian and Israeli, arising from the long cycle of violence and insecurity that has caused deep suffering and despair on all sides,” Bensouda said. “The Office is aware of the wider concern, respecting this Situation, for international peace and security. Through the creation of the ICC, States Parties recognised that atrocity crimes are ‘a threat to peace, security and wellbeing of the world,’ and resolved ‘to guarantee lasting respect for and the enforcement of international justice.’” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the decision as “anti-Semitic”; Israeli President Reuven Rivlin also said in a statement, “We will not accept claims against the exercise of our right and our obligation to defend our citizens.
