Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi held a phone conversation with US State Secretary Antony Blinken on Monday and expressed gratitude for Washington's support of Israel in the issue related to the attempts of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to open an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories.
"I spoke with US Secretary of State @ABlinken and thanked him for the administration's public support of Israel in the face of the outrageous decision by judges of the ICC. I emphasized to the Secretary of State that the tribunal's decision is fundamentally wrong, discriminatory And that it jeopardizes the rare opportunity to promote peace in our region," Ashkenazi said on Twitter.
State Department spokesperson Ned Price previously said that the United States had serious concerns about the ICC's attempts to exercise its jurisdiction over Israeli citizens.
On Friday, the ICC ruled that it had jurisdiction to open an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by Israel on the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called this behavior "pure antisemitism."
In December 2019, ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said that there was sufficient evidence to open a full investigation into possible war crimes committed in Palestine.
The announcement was made after the conclusions of a nearly five-year preliminary examination into the situation in Palestine, which primarily focused on the 2014 Gaza War and Israel's possible "intentionally launching disproportionate attacks" but also looked into the incidents at the Gaza border with Israel in March 2018 which resulted in the killing of over 200 individuals, including 40 children. (/Sputnik)
( With inputs from ANI )
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