Prime Minister Mohamed Shtayyeh said that the announcement of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) constitutes a stand for justice and truth, adding that “we will make every possible legal effort to try Israel for the war crimes it committed against our people in the Gaza Strip, Jerusalem and the West Bank.”
Shtayyeh added in a statement issued by his office Friday evening commenting on the announcement of the office of the Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda about the end of the preliminary study on the situation in Palestine that “this step strengthens the confidence of the Palestinians in the integrity of the international human rights institution and its standing alongside justice despite all the pressures that Israel exercised and is exercising on it.”
The Prime Minister saw this long-awaited for decision as “a significant and remarkable change in the International Criminal Court’s handling of Israeli violations of our people, and a victory for right and justice over the arrogance of power and attempts of criminals to escape justice.”
Shtayyeh urged the Pre-Trial Chamber to expedite the issuance of the decision and not waste any more time in opening a formal investigation into the international crimes committed against the Palestinian people, stressing that files were presented with evidence and detailed reports on the crimes of the occupation.
The Prime Minister said that the negative Israeli reaction to the decision “reflects fear of exposing the true face of Israel as an occupying power that violates human rights and violates international law in the worst way.”
Shtayyeh considered the ICC decision, which came weeks after the European Court of Justice’s decision to label settlement goods and the sweeping UN vote in the United Nations General Assembly to re-new the mandate of UNRWA, as “a revival of the Palestinian cause in international forums despite all American and Israeli attempts to abolish Palestinian rights.”
