The International Criminal Court’s prosecutor said on Wednesday she would formally open an investigation into war crimes perpetrated in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda confirmed that the ICC would begin its investigation after the court ruled last month that it had jurisdiction to investigate suspected war crimes in Palestine.
Bensouda said her investigation would examine alleged war crimes perpetrated from 13 June 2014 and that the court’s priorities would be “determined in due time”.
“In discharging its responsibilities, my office will take the same principled, non-partisan, approach that it has adopted in all situations over which its jurisdiction is seized.
“We have no agenda other than to meet our statutory duties under the Rome Statute with professional integrity,” Bensouda said on Wednesday.
The chief prosecutor added that the investigation’s priorities would be “determined in due time” and acknowledged the operational issues facing her because of the pandemic, “limited resources”, and the court’s heavy workload.
In December 2019, Bensouda said that “war crimes have been or are being committed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.”
She named both the Israeli army and armed Palestinian groups like Hamas as possible perpetrators.
