The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) on Wednesday called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to open an investigation this year into Israeli crimes committed in the occupied Palestinian territories particularly the settlement crimes and the 2014 offensive on the Gaza Strip.
In its weekly report the PCHR asked the European Union and all international bodies to boycott Israel’s settlements and ban working and investing in them in accordance with their obligations under international human rights law and international humanitarian law since settlements are considered a war crime.
“The international community must use all available means to enable the Palestinian people to enjoy their right to self-determination through the establishment of the Palestinian State which was recognized by the UN General Assembly with a vast majority” the report underlined.
The PCHR called on the international community and UN to take all necessary measures to stop the Israeli policies aimed at creating a Jewish demographic majority in the Palestinian territories and emptying them of their original inhabitants through deportations and house demolitions in violation of international humanitarian law.
The PCHR also called on the States Parties to the Rome Statute of the ICC to make every possible effort to hold Israeli war criminals accountable.
It appealed to the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions to fulfill their obligations under article (1) to ensure respect for the Conventions under all circumstances and under articles (146) and (147) to prosecute those responsible for committing grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions to ensure justice for Palestinian victims.
The Center stressed the need for speeding up the reconstruction of the buildings destroyed in the 2014 war on the Gaza Strip and pressuring the Israeli authorities to lift the blockade that obstructs the free movement of goods and people and save the lives of about two million Palestinians living in the enclave.
