ICC ruling means war crimes investigations go both ways

The International Criminal Court’s ruling that it has jurisdiction over the Palestinian territories has pleased many residents but alarmed others that Palestinian leaders could face investigations they fear will be political.
Hadi, the father of Mohammad one of the four victims of the extended Bakr family gather at their house in al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City on February 7, 2021, surrounded by posters in memory of four children who were killed while playing on the beach during the 2014 Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Gaza. - The International Criminal Court's ruling that it has jurisdiction over the situation in the Palestinian territories opens the way to it investigating alleged war crimes committed in the 2014 Israeli-Pa
Hadi, the father of Mohammad, one of the four victims of the extended Bakr family, gather at their house in al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City on Feb. 7, 2021, surrounded by posters in memory of four children who were killed while playing on the beach during the 2014 Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Gaza. - MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images
Ahmad Melhem.jpg
Ahmad Melhem
@ahmadme44502893

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinians welcomed the International Criminal Court’s ruling Feb. 5 that it has jurisdiction to investigate war crimes alleged to have been committed in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Yet the ruling also stirred concerns that the ICC could investigate leaders of the Palestinian factions in Gaza, such as the Islamic Jihad and the Hamas movement.

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