The Palestinian foreign ministry has welcomed a request by Chile and Mexico for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate crimes against civilians, as Israel’s war on Gaza continues unabated.
Israeli attacks have devastated the Gaza Strip since Hamas fighters launched a surprise attack inside Israel on October 7 that killed about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials.
Israel retaliated with a relentless air and ground offensive that has killed more than 24,600 people, about 70 percent of them children, women and the elderly, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza.
In a statement on Thursday, Mexico’s foreign ministry said the referral “is due to the growing concern over the latest escalation of violence, particularly against civilian targets”.
It added that the court based in The Hague was the proper forum to establish potential criminal responsibility, citing “numerous reports from the United Nations that detail many incidents that could constitute crimes under the ICC’s jurisdiction”.
Meanwhile in Chile’s capital, Santiago, foreign minister Alberto van Klaveren said in a news conference that the country supports “the investigation of any possible war crime … whether they are war crimes committed by Israelis or by Palestinians”.
The Palestinian foreign ministry welcomed the move.
“The referral confirms the urgent need for the Court to fulfill its mandate, to deter, investigate and prosecute the most serious crimes of concern for the international community,” a ministry statement said on Friday.
