The International Criminal Court prosecutor announced Tuesday that he has rejected a bid by the Palestinian Authority to have the war crimes tribunal investigate Israeli conduct during 'Operation Cast Lead' in Gaza.
The reason for his decision was that under the ICC's founding treaty, the Rome Statute, only internationally recognized states can join the court.
In an official statement released Tuesday afternoon, the ICC said that "the current status granted to Palestine by the United Nations General Assembly is that of “observer”, not as a “Non‐member State”," and that only "relevant bodies at the United Nations" or the group of states that make up the court could determine whether Palestinians can sign up to the Rome Statute.
"[T]he Office has assessed that it is for the relevant bodies at the United Nations or the Assembly of States Parties to make the legal determination whether Palestine qualifies as a State for the purpose of acceding to the Rome Statute and thereby enabling the exercise of jurisdiction by the Court," the statement said. "The Rome Statute provides no authority for the Office of the Prosecutor to adopt a method to define the term “State”".