ICC Investigations Into Israel-Palestine War Crimes:
International Criminal Court (ICC) has launched investigations into the war crimes in Palestinian territories occupied by Israel (West Bank and the Gaza Strip).
- The decision for investigation is taken after a recent ruling that the court’s jurisdiction extends to territories occupied by Israel since the 1967 Six-day Arab- Israeli war.
- In this war, Israeli forces seized the Golan Heights from Syria, the West Bank & East Jerusalem from Jordan and Sinai Peninsula & Gaza strip from Egypt.
- The investigation is also expected to cover the 2014 Gaza war, the 2018 Gaza border clashes, and Israeli settlement-building in the West Bank.
- The inquiry will also look at whether rocket fire by Hamas and other groups from Gaza amounts to war crimes.
About ICC:
- Governed by an international treaty called ‘The Rome Statute’, the ICC is the world’s first permanent international criminal court.
- Headquarters: The Hague, Netherlands.
- It investigates and, where warranted, tries individuals charged with the gravest crimes of concern to the international community: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression.
- Through international criminal justice, ICC aims to hold those responsible for their crimes and to help prevent these crimes from happening again.
- India is not a party to Rome Statute along with the USA and China.
