Palestine Foreign Minister Riad Malki requested Tuesday the International Criminal Court consider an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory. Malki met with ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda at the war tribunal’s headquarters in The Hague a week after dozens of Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire during clashes on the border with the Gaza Strip.

Credit: ICC.int / International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda

"Today, 22 May 2018, I received a referral from the Government of the State of Palestine ("Palestine"), a State Party to the Rome Statute, regarding the situation in Palestine since 13 June 2014 with no end date," ICC Prosecutor Bensouda. "Specifically, pursuant to articles 13(a) and 14 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court ("ICC" or "Court"), the State of Palestine "requests the Prosecutor to investigate, in accordance with the temporal jurisdiction of the Court, past, ongoing and future crimes within the court's jurisdiction, committed in all parts of the territory of the State of Palestine". Pursuant to Regulation 45 of the Regulations of the Court, I have informed the ICC Presidency of this referral."

Palestine urges ICC to "open, without delay" an investigation into alleged war crimes

 Credit: AFP /  Palestinian protesters wave national flags during clashes with Israeli security forces on the eastern outskirts of Gaza

"Through this referral, we want the Office of the Prosecutor to open, without delay, an investigation into all crimes that she presently concludes have been commissioned or are ongoing," Palestine Foreign Minister Malki. "This referral is Palestine's test to the international mechanism of accountability and respect for international law," he added.

Israel dismissed Malki's move as a "cynical step without legal validity": BBC

"The Palestinians continue to exploit the court for political purposes, rather than work towards resuming the peace process with Israel," a statement said. "It is absurd that the Palestinian actions vis-à-vis the court come at a time when the Palestinians continue to incite to acts of terrorism," the statement by the Israeli Foreign Ministry added.

Israel claims it acted in accordance with international law in Gaza and urged ICC to resist calls for an investigation

 â€œIsrael expects the ICC and its prosecutor not to yield to Palestinian pressure, and stand firm against continued Palestinian efforts to politicize the court and to derail it from its mandate,” the Israeli statement said.