The Israeli Kan 11 Channel said that the Israeli government will hold a special meeting within two days to consider the Israeli response to the International Criminal Court’s decision to open an investigation into Israeli crimes in Palestine.

The meeting chaired by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will take place next Tuesday, noting that it will be two days after the deadline that the court gave Israel to respond to the notice to start an investigation.

The State Department and the Army were inclined to support a response to the criminal court notification.

Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi spoke yesterday with his American counterpart, Anthony Blinken, about the United States' intention to lift the sanctions imposed on the International Criminal Court.

The American minister clarified that his country does not agree with the activities of the court regarding the Palestinian cause and its attempts to exercise its powers against countries that are not members of it.

While Ashkenazi was quoted as saying that Israel refuses the intervention of the court in matters outside its jurisdiction and is determined to protect the Israelis.

Besides, the Palestinian Authority’s endeavor to try Israel in the Criminal Court would have destructive repercussions on relations with Israel.

He said that the Palestinian approach to the court would have repercussions on the political and field alike.

It is noteworthy that the International Criminal Court sent a notification to the Israeli government nearly a month ago, informing it of its intention to open an investigation into its crimes in the occupied territories and giving it a month to respond as to whether it wanted to investigate these crimes on its own or not.

The discussion revolves around 3 issues that the court intends to investigate, which are: building settlements in the West Bank, Israeli crimes in the war on Gaza in 2014, and Israeli crimes against demonstrators in Gaza during the 2018–2019 Gaza border protests.

Source : Safa