Palestinians preparing lawsuits against Israeli leaders who ordered destruction of Gaza homes

"Israeli leaders will only be able to travel between Tel Aviv and Washington, because US is only country that does not apply decisions of the ICC," Palestinian official tells Al-Hayat.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
A Palestinian looks out from the remains of his house in Beit Hanun, a town in the northern Gaza Strip. (photo credit: REUTERS)
A Palestinian looks out from the remains of his house in Beit Hanun, a town in the northern Gaza Strip.
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Palestinian officials are preparing cases to bring before the International Criminal Court against Israeli officials who ordered the destruction of residences in the Gaza Strip as well as other types of cases.
The home destruction files were being prepared along with lawsuits against those responsible for the confiscation of land and the building of settlements, Mustafa Barghouthi, a member of Fatah's Executive Committee told  the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat on Sunday.
"The day will come when the government and the Israeli army commanders and all 650,000 settlers will be wanted in various countries around the world and will not be able to travel," Barghouti said.
"We will reach a day when the only line open to Israeli leaders is Tel Aviv to Washington, because the United States is the only country that does not apply the decisions of the International Criminal Court," he added. 
ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda late Friday initiated a preliminary probe into whether the IDF committed war crimes during the recent Gaza war and, more seriously, declared definitively that Palestine is a state for the purpose of such an investigation.
The declaration of “Palestine” as a state is the most serious escalation toward possible war crimes trials of IDF personnel and Israeli leaders the country has yet faced.
The Palestinian Authority and Hamas on Saturday welcomed the ICC decision.
The PA Foreign Ministry hailed the decision as a “positive and significant step toward achieving justice and respecting international law.”
The ministry said the Palestinian decision to join the ICC was aimed at “putting an end to Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
It said that the Palestinians were seeking to bring the perpetrators of war crimes to international justice “in honor of the martyrs and to protect the Palestinians from becoming victims to future violations.”
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri also praised the ICC decision as a “step in the right direction.” He called for pursuing all efforts to bring Israeli leaders to trial.
Khaled Abu-Toameh and Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.