ICC Pre-Trial Chamber confirms jurisdiction over Palestine

On 5 February 2021, the Pre-Trial Chamber (PTC) of the International Criminal Court in The Hague (ICC) ruled that Palestine is a State-party to the Rome Statute.  In a majority ruling, the PTC held that the has territorial jurisidction over the situation in Palestine.  According to the PTC, this jurisdition extends to the territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely Gaza and the West Bank (including East Jerusalem).

With this decision, the PTC has hereby confirmed the requests filed by the ICC's Prosecutor and by Prakken d'Oliveira.  Liesbeth Zegveld, lawyer at Prakken d'Oliveira, represents the village Khan-al-Amar on the West Bank. The existence of the village is threathened by Israel, which wants to colonize the area and seeks to deport the villagers and destroy the town in order to do so.

Annex

• ICC Chamber decision, 5 February 2021
• The Khan al-Ahmar victims' observations, 12 March 2020