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ICC says it has no jurisdiction over crimes committed on Palestinian territory

The Prosecutor of the International criminal Court, ICC, Fatou Bensouda receives Riyad Al-Maliki, the Foreign Minister of Palestine
The Prosecutor of the International criminal Court, ICC, Fatou Bensouda receives Riyad Al-Maliki, the Foreign Minister of Palestine
BRUSSELS, Aug 5 (KUNA) -- The Prosecutor of the International criminal Court, ICC, Fatou Bensouda received Riyad Al-Maliki, the Foreign Minister of Palestine, at the seat of the Court in The Hague Tuesday following a request by the minister for a meeting.
An ICC press release said that at the meeting, Al-Maliki expressed serious concerns over the latest conflict in Gaza and requested clarifications on different mechanisms for a State to accept the jurisdiction of the ICC and generally regarding the legal framework of the Rome Statute, the founding charter of the court.
The meeting focused on providing those clarifications.
"Palestine is not a State Party to the Rome Statute; neither has the Court received any official document from Palestine indicating acceptance of ICC jurisdiction or requesting the Prosecutor to open an investigation into any alleged crimes following the adoption of the United Nations General Assembly Resolution (67/19) on 29 November 2012, which accorded non-member observer State status to Palestine," said the press release.
"Therefore, the ICC has no jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed on the territory of Palestine," it added. (end) nk.sd