Israel has been reassured that the International Criminal Court will not exercise bias in rendering its decisions in the investigation of suspected war crimes committed during the 50-day IDF campaign in Gaza last summer.
The court is to consider
the arguments and the evidence brought against Israel by the
Palestinians “independently and impartially without fear or
favor,” ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told Haaretz newspaper.
The prosecutor stressed
that she intends to launch an “unbiased” probe of the
Gaza war and plans to investigate both sides of the conflict.
Bensouda stated that officially no investigation has yet been
launched into either side.
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“We will of course look into the alleged crimes committed by
all sides to the conflict, including the role of Hamas. I have
made this clear to both Israeli and Palestinian officials,”
Bensouda said.
“If an investigation is opened in any given situation, my
office will be guided by a policy of investigating and
prosecuting those most responsible for the commission of mass
crimes,” Bensouda added.
Palestine is soon to have its day in the ICC, after securing
long-awaited membership at The Hague, on April 1, this year.
Palestinians are seeking justice for Israel’s operation
‘Protective Edge’ last summer, in which thousands of civilians
were killed.
If an official investigation is opened, the prosecutor said, her
office will most likely focus on “notorious
perpetrators” but warned that in the process of building
stronger cases upwards against those most responsible “lower-
or mid-level perpetrators” will not be spared.
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“In the course of the preliminary examination, we will gather
and assess information received from reliable sources from all
sides, including from Israel, on alleged crimes committed by any
party to the conflict,” she said.
Israel considers any accusations leveled at it with outrage and
says it will not allow its soldiers and officers to be dragged to
The Hague. While the ICC has no authority to arrest suspects in
Israel, it could issue arrest warrants making it difficult for
Israeli officials to travel abroad.
When asked by the Israeli publication how can the Hague take
petitions from unrecognized Palestinian state seriously, Bensouda
said that an “observer state” status granted by the UN General
Assembly in November 2012 is just enough recognition “for the
purposes of accession to the Rome Statute,” which governs
the international court proceedings.
Joining the ICC opens up possibilities: the Palestinian
leadership can not only take the Israelis to task for their
summer campaign, they can also challenge the Jewish state’s
continuing settlement building beyond the Green Line as a war
crime. Israeli settlement construction has long been condemned by
the international community, including the UN.