Palestine seeks ICC war crimes case against Israel

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki said there was "clear evidence" of war crimes by Israel during its offensive in Gaza as he met International Criminal Court prosecutors to push for an investigation.
Malki visited The Hague shortly after Israel and the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement that dominates Gaza entered a 72-hour truce mediated by Egypt in an effort to secure an extended ceasefire.
Last week, the United Nations launched an inquiry into human rights violations and crimes alleged to have been committed by Israel during its offensive, given the far higher toll of civilian deaths and destruction on the Palestinian side.
"Everything that has happened in the last 28 days is clear evidence of war crimes committed by Israel, amounting to crimes against humanity," Malki said. "There is no difficulty for us to show or build the case. Evidence is there for people to see and collect. Israel is in clear violation of international law."
Israel said it did its utmost to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza but accused Hamas of putting its people in harm's way by launching rockets from within densely populated districts.
Malki told reporters that the Palestinian Authority (PA) wanted to give the ICC jurisdiction to investigate alleged crimes by both sides in the Gaza conflagration and that he had discussed a timeline with prosecutors to join the court.
Unless the Palestinians do so, no investigation is possible.
Malki said the PA's status as an observer state at the United Nations, granted by the General Assembly in 2012, qualified it to become an ICC member and that the decision on whether to apply could happen "very soon".
But he pointed to possible complications by saying this could go ahead only with the cooperation of Hamas, which is shunned by the West as a designated terrorist group and is a strong political rival of the Western-backed PA, which governs only in parts of the West Bank not occupied by Israel.
By joining the court, the Palestinian territories would automatically open themselves up to war crimes both committed by adversaries and by themselves within their borders.
"We want really to be assured that if we undertake that decision (for ICC membership), then all Palestinian factions adhere to that decision and know in advance its consequences and ramifications," Malki said.
"If it (includes) action committed by Palestinian groups (against Israelis), then we are ready to accept that. But nothing compares to the atrocities, the carnage, committed by Israel," he added, accusing Israel of destroying schools, hospitals and water grids in Gaza during its incursion.
Analysts say Hamas was unlikely to agree to ICC membership if it meant the possibility of its leaders being prosecuted in The Hague for what they consider legitimate defence against Israeli occupation.
The hardline Islamist Hamas regards all of Israel as well as Palestinian territories as occupied land, unlike the PA which seeks a state on land - the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem - captured by the Jewish state in a 1967 war.
Israel and Hamas traded accusations of war crimes during the Israeli air and ground onslaught on Gaza, during which Islamist militants fired thousands of rockets into the Jewish state. Most of the rockets were shot down by Israel's Iron Dome missile shield or landed in open, uninhabited areas.
Both sides defended their military operations as consistent with international law.
Israel declined public comment on Malki's remarks. But a senior Israeli official who asked not to be identified said any ICC legal action against Israel over Gaza would prompt an Israeli counter-suit at the ICC against the Palestinians.
As neither Israel nor the Palestinians are ICC members, the court lacks jurisdiction over Gaza. This could be granted in a U.N. Security Council resolution, but Israel's main ally, the United States, would have the power to veto any such proposal.
The Palestinians secured symbolic statehood status from the UN General Assembly in a move sharply opposed by Israel and the United States due to the lack of a peace agreement,
Membership of the ICC opens countries to investigations both on their behalf and against them. Several major powers, including the United States, as well as Israel have declined to ratify the court's founding treaty, the Rome Statute, citing the possibility of politically motivated prosecutions.
The ICC, created more than a decade ago to prosecute individuals for war crimes, is a court of last resort, meaning that it will only intervene when a country is found to be unwilling or unable to carry out its own investigation.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth Rigby and Kiran Stacey of FT Syndication Service write: Baroness Warsi was Britain's first female Muslim cabinet minister and the embodiment of the modern Conservative party that David Cameron has sought to encourage. But on Tuesday the Yorkshire-born peer quit the government in protest at its "morally indefensible" position on Gaza.
The Cameron government has defended Israel's incursion into Gaza from the start, with the prime minister telling MPs that the crisis was triggered by Hamas and that the launch of unprovoked missile attacks on another country was a war crime.
In her resignation letter, the peer told the prime minister that his government's approach and language during the Gaza crisis "is not in Britain's national interest" and would have a "detrimental impact on our reputation internationally and domestically".
 "I always said that long after life in politics I must be able to live with myself for the for the decisions I took or the decisions I supported. By staying in government at this time I do not feel I can be sure of that."
As a Muslim in a traditionally pro-Israeli party, the peer must have been under "enormous pressure" from other British Muslims to speak out over the conflict, says Mohammed Amin, chairman of the Muslim Conservative Forum.
 "People would have been saying to her, how can you be part of a government which is so pro-Israel?"
The prime minister, on holiday in Portugal, appeared to have been caught by surprise. He spoke of his "regret" that he was unable to speak to his minister before she resigned. The Tory party played down the significance of her departure, insisting that the government's focus was on ending the Gaza violence rather than apportioning blame.
But unease is growing among some Conservative MPs and party members over the government's handling of the Gaza crisis.
A handful of Tory MPs came out in support for Lady Warsi's position. Sarah Wollaston, who chairs the health committee, tweeted her support for the peer's "principled stand", while Nicholas Soames urged the government to "note and learn" from her resignation. Crispin Blunt told the BBC's World at One her actions were "brave and principled".
 "As a lawyer, obviously she understands our international obligations", said another Conservative. "There is growing unease among some people about the government's attitude to our legal obligations."
Others are more pragmatic. The party already has scant support among many of Britain's ethnic communities and some Conservatives believe that Mr Cameron's stance will hurt the party further at the polls in 2015.
 "Labour is using this to mobilise the Muslim vote," says one Conservative Muslim. "There are over 100 seats in the UK where the local population who identify as Muslim are greater in number than the sitting MP's majority."
One Tory minister explained that he and his colleagues were coming under pressure from constituents, especially in areas with large Muslim populations. "We have seen the street protests and read the letters our constituents send. We are aware that public opinion is not in Israel's favour," he said.
But Lady Warsi's decision - and especially its timing - surprised even her allies.
For months, the minister has been telling friends she wanted to quit government, but ended up staying in last month's reshuffle at the behest of the prime minister. Friends said at the time she had decided to stay on out of loyalty to Mr Cameron, who wanted her in place in the run-up to the election.
Her resignation leaves the prime minister without a much-needed figurehead for the Muslim community as public opinion hardens against Israel. Sajid Javid, the other Muslim in the cabinet, has always played down his religion and has remained silent on Gaza.
The government's internal conflict on Gaza was further highlighted on Tuesday when Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, and Vince Cable, the business secretary, made a public call for all arms licences to Israel to be suspended. The government has refused to do this so far, but the two Liberal Democrat ministers said they expected the prime minister's position to change imminently.
Mr Clegg said: "It's obvious to me that however much Israel has every right to defend itself from those rocket attacks from Hamas, nonetheless the Israeli military operation overstepped the mark in Gaza?.?.?.?That's why I believe that the export licences should now be suspended."
He added: "I believe we will be able to make an announcement on this, finally, very shortly."