On January 16, 2015, at the request of Palestinian officials, the International Criminal
Court launched a preliminary investigation of alleged war crimes which were committed
by
Israel during the summer of 2014.
The attacks, according to UN officials, killed around 2,000
Palestinians, a majority of whom were civilians.
So, what does this preliminary investigation
mean?
And how does it affect peace talks between Israel and Palestine?
Well, first of all, the ICC is a last resort for international parties to get justice for
crimes
against humanity.
In 2009, they dismissed a claim made by Palestinians because of
technicalities relating to their status as a state.
However, in the last few years, the territory
of Palestine has been recognized as a pseudo-state and the ICC has now decided to look
into their claims against Israel.
And although Israel may be the preliminary focus of the new
examination, the ICC will also be investigating any Palestinian war crimes as well.
Israel’s prime minister describes the examination as “an outrage” and says “The Palestinian
Authority is not a country and therefore it is not the court’s place... to carry out
an examination
like this.”
The U.S. State Department has also disagreed with the examination, arguing that it’s
a
confrontational move amid Israeli and Palestinian efforts for peace talks.
They also don’t regard
Palestine as a state.
As of April 2014, the peace talks between the two governments have
collapsed.
With this new investigation of alleged war crimes, it’s unlikely that they will initiate
again any time soon.
The conflict between Israel and Palestine is a long and complicated one.
Find out how
it all started by watching this video.