On 23 February 2023, in light of Israel’s recent military attacks and escalation of widespread and systematic violations against the Palestinian people, 35 Palestinian civil society organisations[i] sent a letter to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Mr Karim A. A. Khan KC, requesting him to expedite the investigation into the Situation in Palestine and urgently issue a preventive statement to deter the commission of more crimes by the Israeli authorities against Palestinians. The letter comes following the Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF) vicious military attacks on Jenin and Aqbet Jaber refugee camps, and Nablus city, notably on 26 January, 6 and 22 February 2023, respectively, the high rise in the number of Palestinians killed, and the imposition of punitive measures. Alarmingly, since the beginning of this year, and as of 23 February 2023, 10:00 am, 63 Palestinians have been killed throughout the occupied Palestinian territory by the IOF and Israeli Jewish settlers.

In addition to the dangerous escalation of violations against Palestinians at very high speed, the letter alarms the Prosecutor to the Israeli authorities’ policy of withholding Palestinian bodies and illegally transferring those injured to Israeli hospitals within the Green Line upon arresting them; which makes it difficult to conclusively assert the exact number of Palestinians killed by the IOF and Israeli settlers – such as the case with the Israeli military attack against Aqbet Jaber refugee camp on 6 February 2023.[ii]

The joint letter urges the Prosecutor to take immediate and meaningful action as so permitted by his mandate under the Rome Statute to contribute to the deterrence and prevention of further deprivation of lives, and commission of more crimes by the Israeli authorities, as well as to investigate and prosecute the crimes of, inter alia, wilful killing, crimes committed against children, the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution, and the war crime of civilian population transfer in. Specifically, the letter requests the Prosecutor to issue a preventive statement as per the Office of the Prosecutor’s previous practice, to crucially reflect and maintain the Court’s commitment to ending the cycle of impunity and delivering justice to Palestinian victims, who have been suffering under Israel’s settler-colonial and apartheid regime.

Read the full letter here.