Palestine to File War Crimes Case Against Israel in ICC

Palestinians plan to lodge their first complaint against Israel for alleged war crimes at the International Criminal Court on April 1.

Palestinians plan to lodge their first complaint against Israel for alleged war crimes at the International Criminal Court in Hague, The Netherlands, on April 1.

On January 2, Palestine moved to officially join the Hague-based court in a process, which is due to take effect on April 1, creating conditions for potential legal actions against Israeli officials for alleged war crimes. The case will reportedly be related to the 2014 war in Gaza.

"One of the first important steps will be filing a complaint against Israel at the ICC on April 1 over the [2014] Gaza war and settlement activity," Mohammed Shtayyeh, a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) said.

United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon accepted Palestine’s request to join the International Criminal Court in January 2015, a decision that paved the way for war crimes complaints against Israel.

The Palestinians are also planning to prosecute Israel over its strategy of settlement building on land they want for a future state.

Following the announcement in January, Israel froze the transfer of half a billion shekels ($125 million) in tax revenue to the Palestinian Authority.

Almost 2,200 Palestinians were killed in July and August during the 50-day war in Gaza, including more than 400 children, according to UN estimates.