The European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee has recommended that the European Union (EU) work jointly with the International Criminal Court to investigate and prosecute Israeli war crimes and human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territories, news reports stated on Thursday, June 29. The resolution calling for joint investigations was proposed by Swedish Social Democrat Member of European Parliament (MEP) Evin Incir. It received 41 votes in favor and 21 against with nine MEPs abstaining. A plenary vote on the resolution is scheduled to be held next month.
In the resolution, the committee said that it “regrets the limited progress on the ICC investigations in war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the occupied Palestinian territories and commits to help the ICC and its prosecutor move forward with the investigation and the prosecution.”
It additionally also expressed concern over the continuing annexation of Palestinian land and the expansion and construction of new, illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. It said that the settlements are an obstacle to efforts to achieve peace and justice in Palestine, and urged the EU to “”consider targeted EU measures specifically addressing settlement expansion in the West Bank.”
In addition to denouncing the settlements, the committee also called on Israel to release all Palestinian political prisoners from Israeli prisons and detention centers. Furthermore, the committee expressed concern over what it called “punitive measures” by Israeli authorities, such as withholding funds from the Palestinian Authority (PA) and limiting construction in Area C. These measures have reportedly been taken in retaliation to the PA taking the state of Israel to the International Criminal Court and other international organizations to hold it accountable over its countless human rights abuses and war crimes against Palestinians. Over the years, the Palestinian government, along with human rights groups, has repeatedly called for international, independent, and thorough investigations into the Israeli killings, persecution and rights violations.
The recommendation by the EU parliament comes in the wake of increasing violence and repression against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem by both the Israeli security forces and settlers residing in the illegal settlements. More than 170 Palestinians have been killed as a result of the Israeli violence. Israel has also regularly carried out airstrikes on Gaza besides military raids all across the West Bank to continue repressing Palestinians and any resistance put up by them against the Israeli occupation.
