RAMALLAH: The Palestinians announced a fresh push against Israel at the International Criminal Court on Tuesday, a day after the United States said it was closing their Washington mission partly over the campaign.
Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said it had submitted a new complaint over an Israeli “war crime” against a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank, expected to be demolished by the Israeli army in the coming days.
The dossier “included a focus on the war crimes facing Khan Al-Ahmar, specifically the crimes of forcible displacement, ethnic cleansing and the destruction of civilian property,” Erekat said.
He added that the PLO had also asked the ICC’s prosecutor to speed up a preliminary probe into other alleged Israeli war crimes.
Khan Al-Ahmar is in a key location near Jerusalem.
International powers say its demolition could enable Israeli settlement expansion that would eventually cut the West Bank in two, further threatening the prospects of an independent Palestinian state.
It could be demolished in the coming days, following an Israeli high court ruling that it was built without the necessary permits.
The Palestinians submitted a similar complaint regarding the village in July.
The latest submission came a day after the US confirmed it would close the PLO’s office in Washington, the highest Palestinian representation in the country, amid worsening relations between the two.
The White House cited the Palestinians’ ICC campaign and what it said was their unwillingness to negotiate.
The Palestinian leadership cut off contact with the administration of President Donald Trump after he recognized the disputed city of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December.
Trump’s administration has also cut more than $500 million in aid to Palestinians, including to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, since January.
Palestinian leaders say the administration is blatantly biased in favor of Israel and is seeking to blackmail them into accepting the White House’s moves.
On Monday, John Bolton, national security adviser to Trump, attacked the ICC, threatening to sanction judges and other officials if they moved against US soldiers or those of key allies.
“The US threats against the ICC (are) a coup against the rules-based international system,” Erekat.
“If you worry about courts, you should not threaten the courts — you should stop committing crimes or aiding and abetting crimes.”
The ICC launched a preliminary probe in 2015 into allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Israel and the Palestinian territories, in the wake of the Gaza war the previous year.
It has yet to move to the next stage and open a full-blown investigation which could possibly lead to charges.
Palestinians renew ICC push against Israel despite US pressure
Palestinians renew ICC push against Israel despite US pressure
- International powers say Khan Al-Ahmar's demolition could enable Israeli settlement expansion that would eventually cut the West Bank in two
- The White House cited the Palestinians’ ICC campaign and what it said was their unwillingness to negotiate
UN rights chief Shocked by ‘unbearable’ Darfur atrocities
- Mediation efforts have failed to produce a ceasefire, even after international outrage intensified last year with reports of mass killings, rape, and abductions during the RSF’s takeover of El-Fasher in Darfur
PORT SUDAN: Nearly three years of war have put the Sudanese people through “hell,” the UN’s rights chief said on Sunday, blasting the vast sums spent on advanced weaponry at the expense of humanitarian aid and the recruitment of child soldiers.
Since April 2023, Sudan has been gripped by a conflict between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces that has left tens of thousands of people dead and around 11 million displaced.
Speaking in Port Sudan during his first wartime visit, UN Human Rights commissioner Volker Turk said the population had endured “horror and hell,” calling it “despicable” that funds that “should be used to alleviate the suffering of the population” are instead spent on advanced weapons, particularly drones.
More than 21 million people are facing acute food insecurity, and two-thirds of Sudan’s population is in urgent need of humanitarian aid, according to the UN.
In addition to the world’s largest hunger and displacement crisis, Sudan is also facing “the increasing militarization of society by all parties to the conflict, including through the arming of civilians and recruitment and use of children,” Turk added.
He said he had heard testimony of “unbearable” atrocities from survivors of attacks in Darfur, and warned of similar crimes unfolding in the Kordofan region — the current epicenter of the fighting.
Testimony of these atrocities must be heard by “the commanders of this conflict and those who are arming, funding and profiting from this war,” he said.
Mediation efforts have failed to produce a ceasefire, even after international outrage intensified last year with reports of mass killings, rape, and abductions during the RSF’s takeover of El-Fasher in Darfur.
“We must ensure that the perpetrators of these horrific violations face justice regardless of the affiliation,” Turk said on Sunday, adding that repeated attacks on civilian infrastructure could constitute “war crimes.”
He called on both sides to “cease intolerable attacks against civilian objects that are indispensable to the civilian population, including markets, health facilities, schools and shelters.”
Turk again warned on Sunday that crimes similar to those seen in El-Fasher could recur in volatile Kordofan, where the RSF has advanced, besieging and attacking several key cities.
Hundreds of thousands face starvation across the region, where more than 65,000 people have been displaced since October, according to the latest UN figures.
