FM AL-MALKY HANDS OVER FILE ON SETTLERS ‘ VIOLENCE TO ICC

Hague, 19 Shawal 1436/4 August 2015 (MINA) – Foreign Affairs Minister Riyad Al-Malki handed over on Monday the file on settlers’ violence against the Palestinian people, to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, at the International Criminal Court (ICC) headquarters in the Hague.

The handing over was made following a formal instruction issued by President Mahmoud Abbas.

Al-Malki met the ICC prosecutor in the wake of settlers’ arson attack targeted to two homes in Nablus’ village of Duma that killed a toddler Ali Dawabsheh and critically injured his entire family members in accordance to the prosecutor’s office procedures regarding the preliminary examinations into the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Palestinian News And Info Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

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The minister further addressed a previous file submitted to the office in June 25, 2015, on crimes committed by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories since June 2014, including last summer’s military offensive on the Gaza Strip, ongoing illegal settlement activity, and the issue of Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel.

Al-Malki briefed Bensouda on the latest grave developments in the occupied Palestinian territory, including the Duma crime, and the ‘cold-blooded’ killing of teenager Laith al-Khaldi, who was shot from behind at Atara check point near Ramallah and later succumbed to his critical wounds.

He stressed that the continuation of the Israeli occupation and its policies, including its settlement expansion policy, along with the impunity it grants to settlers, encourages such crimes.

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He called on the ICC to speed up investigations into the situation in the occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly in light of the continued ‘inhumane war crimes’ by the occupation forces against the Palestinian people. He also called on the ICC to end the policy of granting impunity to perpetrators of such crimes and to ensure accountability for such crimes. (T/P011/RO6)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)