An undated photo by Palestinian media shows Israeli regime troops taking a position against peaceful Palestinian protesters in the occupied territories.
Gaza City, July 19 (RHC)-- The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to expedite an investigation into the crimes and violations of the Tel Aviv regime and bring perpetrators to justice.
Hamas's legal department, in a statement on Tuesday, emphasized the urgent need for immediate action to stop Israeli violations against Palestinian civilians. "Such intervention is crucial for activating international accountability mechanisms, primarily through the International Criminal Court (ICC), to guarantee the rights of all Palestinian victims' access to effective remedies," the statement read.
"Israel's attempts to avoid accountability must not impede its leaders' appearance before international courts." The resistance group pointed out that nine years have passed since Palestine's accession to the Rome Statute and the ICC's declaration of extending jurisdiction over the occupied Palestinian territories. “Despite this, little progress has been made in terms of implementing measures to address the situation in Palestine.”
Hamas further stated that the lack of progress is deeply concerning for Palestinian victims who "suffer from the Israeli apartheid regime's acts of terrorism in occupied al-Quds, the West Bank, and the besieged Gaza Strip."
The double standards of the ICC's prosecutor hinder the application of international justice and contradict the principles outlined in the court and the United Nations Charter.
Elsewhere in the statement, Hamas urged the ICC’s prosecutor to continue prosecution and judicial accountability by identifying the perpetrators and accomplices in crimes against the Palestinian people.
In December last year, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki handed over to the ICC’s prosecutor a file on the Israeli crimes committed against Palestinian people, saying the state of Palestine continues to cooperate with the World Court and the staff of the prosecutor’s office to prove that Israeli military and civilian officials have perpetrated serious and continuous crimes against Palestinians.
The Palestinian foreign ministry earlier this year called on the ICC to complete its ongoing investigations into Israeli crimes against Palestinians and hold the occupying regime to account for its decades of violations of international law.