At long last, Israeli war criminals will be investigated by the World Court.

International Criminal Court opens investigation into war crimes against Palestinians

The move comes after Palestinians formally joined the ICC earlier this month, a move condemned by Israel and the US

Palestinian men look on as a bomb from an Israeli air strike hits a house in Gaza City in August 2014 Photo: ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP

By AFP

4:34PM GMT 16 Jan 2015

The International Criminal Court's prosecutor on Friday opened a preliminary probe into possible war crimes committed against Palestinians, including during last year's Gaza war.


Fatou Bensouda said her office would conduct its "analysis in full independence and impartiality".


Her decision comes after Palestinians formally joined the ICC earlier this month allowing it to lodge war crimes and crimes against humanity complaints against Israel as of April.


At the same time, the Palestinians also recognised the ICC's jurisdiction retroactively, to cover the period during last summer's war in Gaza that killed nearly 2,200 Palestinians and 73 Israelis.

"A preliminary examination is not an investigation but a process of examining the information available in order to reach a fully informed determination on whether there is a reasonable basis to proceed with a (full) investigation," Ms Bensouda said.

Depending on her findings, Ms Bensouda will decide at a later stage whether to launch or quash the investigation, based on the initial probe.

Israel began a massive crackdown on June 13 on the West Bank after the kidnapping and subsequent murder of three Israeli teenagers, triggering a series of events that led to the seven-week Gaza war.

The move to join the ICC is also seen as part of a shift in strategy to internationalise its campaign for statehood and move away from the stalled US-led peace process.

Both Israel and the US have condemned the plan, with Washington calling it "counterproductive".

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/palestinianauthority/11351242/International-Criminal-Court-opens-investigation-into-war-crimes-against-Palestinians.html