Source:Tsionizm Staff

A “pre-trial” chamber of three judges of the International Criminal Court ruled Friday the territories of Gaza, West Bank and East Jerusalem are all under its jurisdiction, reported i24 News.

Alleging Israel has been illegally “occupying” the territories since 1967, the court argued that the Palestinian government’s joining of the Rome Statute imparts ICC jurisdiction over the areas mentioned above.

Adopted in 1998, the Rome Statute established the ICC with the court’s jurisdiction over crimes committed within member states and by individual citizens of those states.

In a dissenting opinion, the presiding judge over the chamber, Judge Péter Kovács disagreed with qualifying the West Bank and Gaza as a state signatory of the Rome Statute.

The ruling was sharply criticized in Israel with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stating “the ICC proved once again that it is a political body and not a judicial institution.”

Vowing earlier to…