The Hague visit: Palestinian FM vows cooperation with international courts

THE HAGUE: The Palestinian Authority’s foreign minister told reporters on Thursday that he fully supports an International Criminal Court investigation into the Palestinian territories, and he called for a full cease-fire to bring humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

The court in The Hague investigates and prosecutes people for war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. Palestinian Foreign Affairs Minister Riyad al-Maliki met with chief prosecutor Karim Khan twice during a two-day visit to the Netherlands to drum up international support for an ICC investigation.

Asked by journalists if he would support the court looking into Hamas’ surprise October 7 attacks in southern Israel, he said that the Palestinian Authority would not interfere with the investigation. “We cannot say Investigate here, don’t investigate there,’” al-Maliki said.

The international court launched an investigation in 2021 into alleged crimes in the Palestinian territories, focusing on military operations against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip and the expansion of Jewish settlements in east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.

Khan confirmed last week that his mandate would extend to Palestinians who carried out crimes against Israelis. The investigation was spurred by the last major conflict in Gaza, but can analyze war crimes allegations from the current Israel-Hamas war.

Israel argues the ICC has no jurisdiction in the conflict because Palestine is not an independent sovereign state. Israel isn’t a party to the treaty that underpins the international court and is not one of its 123 member states.