RAMALLAH, Friday, February 14, 2020 (WAFA) – As the International Criminal Court in the Hague is currently weighing whether to open an investigation into possible war crimes committed in Palestine by Israel, the Fatah movement called on both Germany and the Czech Republic in particular to rescind their requests to become an “amicus curiae” with the intention to argue that the ICC had no jurisdiction over Palestine.

This comes as a reaction to Germany’s joining the Czech Republic today in offering to speak out on Israel‘s behalf at the International Criminal Court arguing that the ICC has no jurisdiction over Palestine.

In a written statement by Jamal Nazzal, Fatah’s spokesperson, Fatah called on the two countries – “which have the intention to either become amicus curiae to the ICC or wish to submit written legal opinions positing that The Hague has no jurisdiction to investigate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – to reconsider their position if they want to see justice pursued in Palestine.”

Nazzal warned that “standing in the way of justice for thousands of Palestinian victims thus giving Israel green light to go on with its human rights violation over technical issues could endanger the security of every Palestinian alive.”

“Over the years Israel has killed thousands upon thousands of Palestinian civilians with hundreds of unarmed underage individuals amongst them,” he added.

Nazzal continued, “It would be harmful to the safety and vital interests of our people for some friendly nations like Germany or the Czech republic to stand in the way of justice in Palestine over technical reasons such as their own interpretation of either the 1933 Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States cited by the Czech republic or Article 12 of the Rome Statute citied by Germany.”

He warned of “wasting time in making superfluous assessments over the scope of the Court‘s territorial jurisdiction pursuant to Article 12 of the Rome Statute while war crimes in Palestine are being committed by Israel either through the continual bombardment in Gaza, the illegal settlements or the shooting of unarmed Palestinian individuals in violation of international law.”

M.N