The International Criminal Court of Justice could hold Israeli culpable for West
Bank settlement activity if the Palestinians become party to the Rome Statue, a
United Nations Human Rights Council probe concluded on Thursday.
The
three-person fact finding mission released a draft copy of its report in Geneva
in advance of a March 18th council debate on the matter.
Israel cut its
ties with the council when the probe was announced last March, in anticipation
that it would add fuel to the Palestinian drive to bring Israel to the ICC on
the settlement’s issue.
Israel believes that the resolution of the West
Bank settlement issue should be determined through direct talks, and not imposed
by the international community outside the framework of negotiations.
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