Egypt’s Grand Imam of Al Azhar welcomes ICC decision to probe Israeli war crimes against Palestinians

CAIRO – 8 February 2021: Grand Imam of Al Azhar Sheikh Ahmed El Tayeb welcomed the International Criminal Court decision of launching an investigation into war crimes committed by Israelis against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.

“The International Criminal Court's decision to investigate the Zionist entity’s war crimes against the Palestinian people are a glimmer of hope towards regaining Palestinian rights. I call on the international community to support the Palestinians until the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its Capital,” he tweeted on Sunday.

The International Criminal Court's decision to investigate the Zionist entity’s war crimes against the Palestinian people are a glimmer of hope towards regaining Palestinian rights.
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— أحمد الطيب (@alimamaltayeb) February 7, 2021

The Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court decided to investigate the crimes that have been committed since 1967 in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.

“Palestine has thus agreed to subject itself to the terms of the ICC Rome Statute and has the right to be treated as any other State Party for the matters related to the implementation of the Statute,” the decision says.

“On this basis, the majority, composed of Judge Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou and Judge Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, found that the Court's territorial jurisdiction in the Situation in Palestine extends to the territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem,” the decision added.