Consensus grows on Palestinian ICC membership
There are growing calls domestically and internationally for the Palestinians to join the International Criminal Court.
Since the breakdown of Palestinian-Israeli negotiations and the reconciliation agreement between the West Bank and Gaza leaderships, Palestinians have been considering an important question: Will the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) apply to join the International Criminal Court (ICC), and when would be the right time to do so?
Luis Moreno-Ocampo, former chief ICC prosecutor, has said that UN recognition of Palestine as a non-member observer state has changed Palestinians' legal status vis-a-vis The Hague-based court. In a May 12 interview with Al-Monitor, Moreno-Ocampo encouraged the Palestinians to join the ICC. He said, “The presence of the ICC in the region will encourage the sides to think creatively about how to solve their problems in their bilateral relations.”
