Does the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court include “territory occupied by Israel during the Six-Day War in June 1967, namely the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza”? That’s the question the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, asked a three-judge “pre-trial chamber” more than a year ago. If, as she argues, the court has jurisdiction over these territories, she can begin a formal investigation into whether “members of the Israel Defence Forces, Israeli (civilian) authorities, Hamas and Palestinian armed groups” have committed war crimes there. That, she accepts, turns on whether Palestine is a “state” for the purposes of the court’s founding treaty. The Palestinians are a party to the Rome Statute; Israel is not.
Joshua Rozenberg: The Hague puts Israel in the crosshairs
