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PARIS. — Top Palestinian officials have accused Israel of war crimes in Gaza, filing a complaint last Friday at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
The complaint targets “war crimes committed by the Israeli army in June and July 2014 in Palestine” in the context of the operation known as Protective Edge, their lawyer Gilles Devers told reporters.
“Israel, the occupying power, is carrying out a military operation which in principle and form violates the basis of international law,” he said. “Every day new crimes are committed and over 80 percent of the victims are civilians. Children, women, hospitals, UN schools . . . the Israeli soldiers respect nothing.

“This is a military attack against the Palestinian population”.
They also accuse Israel of war crimes, including apartheid, attacks against civilians, excessive loss of human life and colonisation.

Palestinian Justice Minister Saleem Al-Saqqa and Ismail Jabr, the Gaza court public prosecutor, started legal proceedings via a Paris-based lawyer over the 21 days of fighting between Hamas fighters and Israeli ground forces that has left more that 1,000 dead — including hundreds of civilians.

Thirty seven Israelis have been killed, 35 of them soldiers. If the legal complaint is accepted it could give the Palestinians the first realistic chance of bringing a war crimes case against Israel.

But that’s not a given. To process the complaint, the Hague-based court must first rule if it has jurisdiction in the Palestinian Authority.
The Palestinian Authority, which has non-member observer state status at the United Nations, has not yet signed up to the Hague-based ICC, due to what Devers said were “political” quarrels over the Palestinians’ status.

But according to Devers, the complaint is still valid.
The UN Human Rights Council is launching a probe into Israel’s offensive in Gaza, with rights chief Navi Pillay saying the Jewish state’s military actions could amount to war crimes.

Some experts don’t expect the ICC to recognise the Palestinian proceedings.
“This is more of a symbolic thing. I’d be surprised if The Hague accepts the complaint. I can’t see the ICC summoning up the Israeli leaders for evidence,” said Mattia Toaldo, policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

“(Palestinian) President (Mahmoud) Abbas gave assurances in 2012 to several countries that they would not use their UN status to go to the ICC,” he added.
Paul Hirschson, a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, was not aware of the move — filed early Friday morning — but said the Israeli forces have not broken the law.

“The complaint is something new that we will have to study,” he said adding: “the Israeli military is working 100 percent within the dictates of international humanitarian law.” — AP/AFP/HR.