PLO to file first ICC complaint against Israel in April

A senior PLO official said yesterday that it is to lodge the first war crimes complaint against Israel at the International Criminal Court on April 1, AFP reported

Member of the executive committee of the PLO Mohammad Shtayyeh said: “One of the first important steps will be filing a complaint against Israel at the ICC on April 1 over the [2014] Gaza war and settlement activity.”

On 2 January the PLO moved to formally join the court in The Hague in a process which is due to take effect on 1 April, setting the scene for potential legal action against Israeli officials for alleged war crimes.

Following the Palestinian movement towards the ICC, Israel reacted furiously and quickly moved to cut off millions of dollars in monthly tax payments it collects on behalf of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority, exacerbating an already severe financial crisis.

There was no immediate response from Israel, with foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nachshon refusing to react to a declaration which he described as “speculative and hypothetical”.

On 16 January, the ICC announced “a preliminary examination” into Israeli’s actions over a period beginning in June which included last year’s war in Gaza, in which more than 2,260 Palestinians were killed.

The PLO is also planning to sue Israel over its policy of settlement building on land they want for a future state.

Under international law, all Israeli construction on land occupied in 1967 is viewed as illegal and a major stumbling block to efforts to end the decades-long conflict.