Hamas Slams Occupying Regime’s Snubbing of ICC
GAZA STRIP (Dispatches) – The Zionist regime’s refusal to cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) into crimes committed in the occupied territories clearly displays the regime’s arrogance in dealing with international institutions and decisions, Palestine’s Hamas resistance movement says.
In a press release on Friday, Hazem Qassem, a spokesman for the resistance movement, said the occupying regime is acting as if it is "above the law and accountability”, the Palestinian Information Center reported.
Qassem stressed that this case was a test for international institutions to enforce their decisions, achieve justice, and punish criminals.
His remarks a day after Zionist prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Tel Aviv would tell the ICC that it would not cooperate with the investigation into the regime’s war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The ICC sent a notification to the occupying regime nearly a month ago, informing it of the tribunal’s intention to launch an investigation into the regime’s war crimes in the occupied Palestinian lands.
Netanyahu said the regime would respond to the letter from the ICC, telling the tribunal that it "has no powers to initiate an investigation against Israel.”
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 occupation since 1967.
She said at the time that her inquiry would be conducted "independently, impartially and objectively, without fear or favor.”
The Palestinian Authority (PA) along with Gaza-based Hamas welcomed the prosecutor’s announcement.
Both the Zionist regime and the United States have refused to sign up to the ICC, which was set up in 2002 to be the only global tribunal trying the world’s worst crimes, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In a press release on Friday, Hazem Qassem, a spokesman for the resistance movement, said the occupying regime is acting as if it is "above the law and accountability”, the Palestinian Information Center reported.
Qassem stressed that this case was a test for international institutions to enforce their decisions, achieve justice, and punish criminals.
His remarks a day after Zionist prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Tel Aviv would tell the ICC that it would not cooperate with the investigation into the regime’s war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The ICC sent a notification to the occupying regime nearly a month ago, informing it of the tribunal’s intention to launch an investigation into the regime’s war crimes in the occupied Palestinian lands.
Netanyahu said the regime would respond to the letter from the ICC, telling the tribunal that it "has no powers to initiate an investigation against Israel.”
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 occupation since 1967.
She said at the time that her inquiry would be conducted "independently, impartially and objectively, without fear or favor.”
The Palestinian Authority (PA) along with Gaza-based Hamas welcomed the prosecutor’s announcement.
Both the Zionist regime and the United States have refused to sign up to the ICC, which was set up in 2002 to be the only global tribunal trying the world’s worst crimes, war crimes and crimes against humanity.