Palestinian top diplomat appeals for ceasefire at the Hague

The Hague, Netherlands – AFP

The Palestinian foreign minister has said that Israel’s offensive on Gaza was a “war of revenge”, as he flew to the Hague in order to appeal for a ceasefire.

The visit of Riyad al-Maliki to the Hague came as Israel sent a column of tanks and infantry to launch an overnight raid into besieged and battered Gaza, striking “numerous targets”, and leaving catastrophic civilian damage in its entrails.

More than 6,500 Palestinians have been killed by Israel’s relentless retaliatory bombardments, mostly civilians and many of them children.

“This time the war that Israel is waging is different. This time… it’s a war of revenge,” Maliki said in The Hague. “First we need to end this one-sided aggression and then we need to call for a ceasefire.”

He told reporters at a press conference at the Palestinian Authority’s mission to The Hague that “a ceasefire is essential… for the distribution of humanitarian aid”.

Maliki had flown into the Dutch city on Wednesday in a desperate attempt to call for a much-needed ceasefire, and met top officials at the International Criminal Court including its chief prosecutor Karim Khan.

“The situation in Gaza is so dangerous now that it needs immediate intervention by the (ICC) prosecutor,” Maliki said.

He said the Palestinian Authority was “working with the ICC prosecutor” and providing the court “with all information to take action.”

Maliki said the Palestinians made a second submission to the UN’s highest International Court of Justice, which is also based in The Hague.

The UN’s general Assembly has asked the ICJ’s judges for an advisory opinion on occupation in Palestine.

Chief prosecutor Khan’s office said earlier this month it was “continuously gathering information” in support of its probe into the Palestinian situation.

It opened a formal investigation in 2021 into the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, including war crimes by Israeli forces.

The prosecutor’s office “put in place a dedicated team to advance the investigation in relation to the situation in the State of Palestine, the first time a fully resourced team had been established in relation to this situation,” it said.

Set up in 2002, the ICC’s is the only global independent tribunal to probe the world’s worst crimes including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Palestine signed up to the court’s founding Rome Statute in 2015.

Israel, which is not a member of the ICC, has refused to cooperate with the probe or recognize its jurisdiction.