The International Criminal Court will continue to investigate the Palestinian case by rejecting Israel's appeal

The Prosecutor's Office of the International Criminal Court will continue to investigatethe existence of war crimes in Palestine by rejecting Israel's last appeal against that investigation today.  has also confirmed that it is competentto investigate what happened in Palestine following the Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023. 

The Public Prosecutor's Office opened an investigation in 2021following Palestine's request two years earlier, although it also takes into account the Hamas attack and subsequent Israeli attacks.

The Court's Appeals Chamber has argued in a lengthy and technical judgement that there are no "new elements"for the resumption of the case. When an international investigation is initiated, if there are facts that have not been taken into account at the outset, an inter-State communication must be issued to determine who is competent to investigate. This has been defended by Israel in its appeal.

The Appeals Chamber, however, considers that the arrest warrants of Netanyahu  and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as the investigation itself, identified possible crimes and those responsible, took into account the context of conflict and occupation. 

The Chamber acknowledges that the situation in Palestine has deteriorated since 7 October 2023, but that the conflict reported in 2018 and the current one are "closely linked." 

The judgement has therefore proved the Public Prosecutor's Office right, which may continue its investigation.