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Palestinian Justice Minister Ali Kashan met International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo Thursday to discuss the situation in Gaza, a court official said.
"The Palestinian justice minister came to The Hague today," said Beatrice le Fraper, a special advisor to the prosecutor,.
They had "a long discussion ... which included allegations of crimes committed in Gaza".
The court started work in 2002 as the world's first permanent tribunal on war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
It can put an individual on trial if the alleged crime was committed on the territory of, or by a national of, a signatory to the Rome Statute which created the court, or if requested by a state party, which Israel is not.
The prosecutor could start an investigation into the Gaza situation at the request of the United Nations Security Council, or if Israel were to voluntarily accept the court's jurisdiction.
The International Federation of Human Rights and Amnesty International have accused Israel of committing war crimes in Gaza.
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=29943
From the same link:
The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Occupied Territories, Richard Falk, said he had little doubt about the "unavoidably inhuman character of a large scale military operation of the sort that Israel has initiated... against an essentially defenceless population."
Falk told journalists that Israeli military operations in the densely populated territory among a population weakened by an 18 month blockade "raises the spectre of systematic war crimes."
"Unlawful targets have been selected" during the fighting, he said.
"The evidence of breaking of fundamental rules of international humanitarian law is so compelling," he added, backing calls for an independent, international investigation.
Falk, a legal expert, said that the Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip was effectively trapped in a war zone and prevented from fleeing, even if they were ill, wounded, or children.
The 47-member UN Human Rights Council voted by a large majority on January 12 to set up a probe into "grave" human rights violations by Israeli forces against Palestinians.
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As well,
Palestinian Fatah party has ordered a specialized team to probe Israel's use of banned weapons during its 23-day offensive against Gaza.
In an interview with Press TV on Friday, senior Fatah member Abdullah Abdullah said the Palestinian faction has launched an investigation into Tel Aviv's resort to incendiary white phosphorus bombs during the Gaza war.
A specialized team is working on the issue, collecting evidence and information from witnesses, said Abdullah, adding that the use of other types of internationally forbidden arms, including depleted uranium, was also under investigation.
"We will take this to the responsible and relevant authorities including the criminal court in The Hague," he stressed.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=83427§ionid=351020202
