AL-QUDS (Dispatches) – The Zionist regime say it will tell the International Criminal Court (ICC) it does not recognize the authority of the tribunal, which is planning to investigate the regime’s war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories.
ICC prosecutors said letters had been sent on March 9 to all parties within the Zionist regime concerned, giving them a month to inform the court if they were conducting investigations of the crimes and want an ICC inquiry deferred while that is ongoing.
In a speech, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu deemed the ICC inquiry an "absurdity”.
Netanyahu said in a statement that the regime will respond to a notification letter from the ICC, telling it that Tel Aviv does not recognize the tribunal’s authority.
Last month, ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced in a statement the launch of a war crimes investigation into the Palestinian territories, which have been under the regime’s occupation since 1967.
She said her inquiry will be conducted "independently, impartially and objectively, without fear or favor.”
The Palestinian Authority (PA) welcomed the prosecutor’s announcement.
It is "a long-awaited step that serves Palestine’s tireless pursuit of justice and accountability, which are indispensable pillars of the peace the Palestinian people seek and deserve”, the PA foreign ministry said in a statement.
Hamas resistance movement also praised the ICC’s move.
"We welcome the ICC decision to investigate Israeli occupation war crimes against our people. It is a step forward on the path of achieving justice for the victims of our people,” Hazem Qassem, a Hamas spokesman said.
"Our resistance is legitimate and it comes to defend our people. All international laws approve legitimate resistance,” Qassem noted.