Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said Tuesday that the two files, which are over Tel Aviv’s illegal settlement activities in the occupied West Bank and its latest devastating war on the besieged Gaza Strip, will be submitted to The Hague-based International Criminal Court on June 25.
The Palestinian official said all preparations for submitting the two lawsuits have been made by Palestinian and international experts, World Bulletin reported.
Israel attacked the Gaza Strip in early July last year. The attack, which lasted for 50 days, killed 2,130 Palestinians and injured over 11,000 others.
In addition to its repeated aggression, Israel continues to press ahead with its illegal settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories despite a global outcry.
The Israeli settlements are illegal under international law since the territories were captured by the regime in the 1967 war and are thus subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied lands.
More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories in 1967.
Earlier, in a meeting between Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias and al-Maliki in Athens, Kotzias said, “Palestine is a country that is in our hearts, and in our minds.”
Greek officials have started referring to the State of Palestine as “Palestine.” The country’s prime minister used the term “State of Palestine” in a tweet Monday which was later deleted.
Kotzias referred to his guest as “His Excellency, the foreign minister of Palestine,” in a press conference in which he vowed to create a “Friends of Palestine” group in the European Union.
