Palestinians run for cover from tear gas near the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip, east of Jabalia. (Mohammed ABED/ AFP)
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Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki will submit a referral to the International Criminal Court on the Israeli crimes and violations of the Palestinian peoples’ rights.
Maliki is scheduled to meet prosecutor Fatou Bensouda in The Netherlands on Tuesday morning to submit the referral.
He will call upon the court to assume its responsibility and duties towards bringing justice to the Palestinian people and hold Israel, the occupying power, accountable for its continuous crimes and violations, according to the statement issued by the Higher National Committee Responsible for following up with the ICC.
Afterwards, Maliki will hold a press conference outside the court.
This comes a week after 63 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli forces during protests against a US decision to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Last week, Bensouda announced that the Court's officials were watching the unrest in Gaza closely and would "take any action warranted" to prosecute crimes.
Maliki is scheduled to meet prosecutor Fatou Bensouda in The Netherlands on Tuesday morning to submit the referral.
He will call upon the court to assume its responsibility and duties towards bringing justice to the Palestinian people and hold Israel, the occupying power, accountable for its continuous crimes and violations, according to the statement issued by the Higher National Committee Responsible for following up with the ICC.
Afterwards, Maliki will hold a press conference outside the court.
This comes a week after 63 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli forces during protests against a US decision to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Last week, Bensouda announced that the Court's officials were watching the unrest in Gaza closely and would "take any action warranted" to prosecute crimes.
"My staff is vigilantly following developments on the ground and recording any alleged crime" that could fall within the tribunal's jurisdiction, she warned in a statement to AFP.
"The violence must stop," she insisted, urging "all those concerned to refrain from further escalating this situation” and the Israeli army “to avoid excessive use of force."
In its statement, the Higher Committee asserted that Palestine is exercising its right as a State party in the ICC, and thus "refers to the Office of The Prosecutor the crimes committed by officials of Israel, the occupying power, against the Palestinian people."
The ICC will be expected to accelerate the opening of a criminal investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Israel, added the Committee.
"It is time to hold the Israeli war criminals accountable and to bring justice to the Palestinian People," concluded the statement.
This article has been adapted from its original source.