By Maayan Lubell and Nidal al-Mughrabi
JERUSALEM / GAZA (Reuters) – Many Palestinians view a ruling by the International Criminal Court as having jurisdiction over the Palestinian territories as a late opportunity for justice for victims of Israeli attacks.
But for many Israelis, Friday’s ruling is worrying because they say they are the ‘good guys’ who are defending themselves against Palestinian violence.
The verdict, handed down by a pre-trial chamber of three ICC judges, could lead to criminal investigations by Israel and Palestinian militant groups, including Hamas. In the near future, however, no sin was expected.
ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said she would now investigate the ruling, pointing to the 2014 war in Gaza between Israel and militant groups in Hamas-controlled Gaza, the 2018 Gaza border protests and Israeli settlements. in occupied territory.
In Khan Younis in Gaza, Palestinian Tawfiq Abu Jama said 24 members of his extended family were killed in an Israeli airstrike during the seven-week conflict in 2014 – in which the dead included more than 2,100 Palestinians, including many civilians. as 67 Israeli soldiers and six Israeli civilians.
Abu Jama said he viewed the ICC decision as “possible justice that is late and better than never … we do not trust Israeli courts.”
An investigation into the Khan Younis strike, carried out by the Israeli army’s judicial arm, concluded that it was legal and targeted a militant.
On the Israeli side of the border, Israeli Gadi Yarkoni, who lost both his legs during a Palestinian mortar attack during the same war, said he was angry at the verdict.
“We are the good guys here, we are not shooting to kill innocent children, but they are shooting at us to kill civilians,” said Yarkoni, head of the Eshkol regional council bordering Gaza. “I weep over every civilian killed in Gaza and the West Bank, but we defend our borders.”
The two parties have agreed on one thing – and the ICC does not expect a quick outcome either.
An Israeli official who requested anonymity said: “It is not as if warrants will be issued tomorrow morning.”
The official described the ruling as political.
HORDE IN ADVANCE
Diana Buttu, an international lawyer and former legal adviser to the Palestinian Liberation Organization, said the Palestinians still face many obstacles.
“The road to real justice is long because the ICC will undoubtedly face political pressure not to proceed,” Buttu said.
She said it was not the first time an international court had declared Israeli acts illegal, and previously “the world has done nothing.”
The ICC decision came just three weeks before the end of Donald Trump’s presidency, during which the United States imposed sanctions on two ICC officials, including Bensouda.
After U.S. President Joe Biden’s inauguration last month, the State Department said Washington would thoroughly review Trump-era sanctions.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that the verdict was anti-Semitic and that Israel would fight this perversion of justice with all its might.
Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said it was a “historic day” and that Israel had previously been treated “above the law”.
But Palestinians were not exempted from the court investigation. Hamas, designated by Israel and the West as a terrorist organization, is accused of deliberately attacking civilians and using Palestinian civilians as human shields.
But a Hamas official in Gaza welcomed the ruling, saying he did not fear the investigation.
“The resistance of Hamas and the resistance of the Palestinian people is legal and is in line with International Humanitarian Law,” said Hazem Qassem, a spokesman.
The Israeli military (IDF) has said it regrets the ICC ruling and will continue to defend the security of Israel and its citizens “while fully respecting the IDF code of ethics, the values of the IDF and national and international law. nakom. “
(Additional reporting by Rami Amichay on the Israeli-Gaza border, Ali Sawafta and Zainah El-Haroun in Ramallah and Stephen Farrell in Jerusalem; edited by Stephen Farrell and Timothy Heritage)