Date: 29 Apr 2024
Press Release
The International Commission “Hashd” The Prosecutor’s Office of the International Criminal Court must reject any blackmail to obstruct preliminary investigations and issue arrest warrants for Israeli war criminals
The International Commission to Support the Rights of the Palestinian People “Hashd” has been closely monitoring and working diligently with the Prosecutor’s Office of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and commends the initiation of preliminary investigation proceedings, which will include issuing arrest warrants against war criminals and perpetrators of genocide among Israeli political, military leaders, and agents.
All legal facts indicate a legal and ethical necessity, urging the ICC Prosecutor and judges to move without delay to an advanced stage in the Palestinian file before the Court. This is especially crucial given the reasonable basis to proceed with investigations into the situation in Palestine, as well as the extension and scope of the Court’s jurisdiction over Palestinian territories.
The on-the-ground facts in Gaza indicate that the Israeli military’s genocidal war and starvation tactics against Palestinian civilians have resulted, according to the latest statistics from the Gaza Ministry of Health, in the death of 41,454 victims, including 34,454 who arrived at hospitals and 7,000 missing under the rubble of their homes. Among the victims are 14,873 children, 9,801 women, 491 medical personnel, 67 civil defense personnel, 141 journalists, and 77,575 Palestinians injured to varying degrees. Approximately 2 million Palestinians have been displaced, and widespread destruction has wiped entire cities and camps off the map, settling them on the ground without contributing to any military effort. This includes the documented destruction of 86,000 residential units, partial destruction of 294,000 residential units, 311 schools and universities, 181 civilian government offices, 3 churches, and 321 mosques, as well as 32 hospitals and 206 archaeological sites.
The International Commission “Hashd” emphasizes that moving forward with new actions by the ICC will achieve the necessary deterrence to halt the Israeli genocide war. Delays or obstruction of the principles of international accountability and justice mean encouraging the Israeli occupation forces to commit further crimes defined by the Court’s statutes, the Geneva Conventions, especially the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, and the First Additional Protocol of 1977. Therefore, Hashd records and demands:
- The International Commission “Hashd”:urges the ICC Prosecutor and judges to stand with the Palestinian victims by expediting the investigation into Israeli war crimes and issuing arrest warrants for Israeli occupation leaders, soldiers, and partners responsible for committing genocide and war crimes in Gaza and other occupied Palestinian territories.
- The International Commission “Hashd”:considers any new legal and international spatial action as a consolidation of the principle of international accountability, which contributes to shrinking the escape from punishment and achieving the judicial deterrence necessary to ensure international accountability and justice for the victims of genocide.
- The International Commission “Hashd”: calls on the Rome Statute signatory states and relevant United Nations human rights institutions to strengthen the decisions of the Court and the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
- The International Commission “Hashd”: demands that the Palestinian Foreign Ministry utilize its membership in the Executive Committee of the Assembly of States Parties to the International Criminal Court to urge all stakeholders at the ICC to ensure the completion of the investigation process into Israeli crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories and to address any internal and external obstacles hindering the completion of international accountability for the occupation.
End
The International Commission to Support Palestinians Rights (Hashd)
