German, Hungary, and other countries are siding with Israel when it comes to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hauge, Netherlands; Both countries believe the ICC has no jurisdiction regarding the West Bank and other current “Palestinian” areas.
On Friday, Germany sided with Israel regarding the International Criminal Court (ICC-The Hague, Netherlands)) seeking to investigate whether Israel has committed any war crimes in the West Bank, Gaza, or East Jerusalem. Germany and other nations such as Hungary do not believe the ICC has any jurisdiction to investigate in such areas because “Palestine” is not recognized as a sovereign state under international law despite being part of the ICC’s Rome Statute.
Germany would release a statement which would, in part, read, “Germany holds the view that only States can become a party to the Rome Statute and does not include ‘Palestine’ on the list of State Parties published in the Federal Gazette…Palestine does not possess nor did it ever possess the jurisdiction that it would need to delegate to the Court so it may exercise its jurisdiction.”
They would also state, “The scope of the Court’s territorial jurisdiction pursuant to Article 12 of the Rome Statute does not extend to the occupied Palestinian territories. Article 12 of the Rome Statute presupposes that there is a “State” that has the ability under international law to delegate territorial jurisdiction to the Court with respect to the relevant cases.”
This is seen as a significant move because Germany plays a big role in the ICC. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz responded to their support, stating that he “views positively the fact the important countries, renowned experts and civil-social organizations are expressing a clear stance according to which the International Criminal Court has no jurisdiction to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
