The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, arrived in Palestine today to meet with the country’s authorities and survivors of the attacks on the Gaza Strip, after previously visiting Israel in the framework of the current war against Islamist movement Hamas.
“The chief prosecutor of the ICC arrives to visit Ramallah,” the court announced on its X social network account (formerly Twitter), in which it showed photos of Khan in the city.
The post specifies that Khan plans to hold meetings with the president of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), Mahmud Abbas, the prime minister, Mohammad Shtayyeh, and the Minister of Justice, Mohammad Fahhad al Shalaldeh.
During his visit, the prosecutor will also meet with “survivors and families of those killed” in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, the ICC said.
Khan arrived in Israel last Thursday at the request of the victims of the attacks committed by Hamas on October 7, according to what was officially announced.
The trip is not intended to advance any investigation, although it does “represent an important opportunity to express support for all the victims and initiate a dialogue,” the court reported on social networks, according to the Europa Press news agency.
The Prosecutor’s Office of the court based in the Dutch city of The Hague launched an investigation in March 2021 into various events that occurred since June 2014 in the Palestinian territories, which could constitute war crimes.
The mandate has no deadline and, therefore, would also apply to the current war context.
“We have jurisdiction over any crime covered by the Rome Statute, such as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Palestinians in Israel, and we also have jurisdiction over any crime committed by Israeli forces in Palestine,” he explained. Khan in a recent interview with the British BBC network.
Khan’s visit comes after the end of the truce in this new upsurge in violence that began on October 7, when Hamas militants stormed into Israel, in a surprise attack that left more than 1,200 dead, mostly civilians. and 240 kidnapped, including twenty Argentines.
In response, Israel vowed to eliminate Hamas and unleashed a campaign of air and ground attacks on Gaza that the enclave’s government said left more than 15,000 people dead, most of them civilians.
The one-week temporary cessation of hostilities allowed hostages to be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners: 110 hostages were released since the beginning of the conflict, 105 of them during the truce, mostly Israeli women and minors, and a dozen of them Argentineans, and in exchange Israel He released 240 people.
Source: Ambito
