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Netanyahu blasts ICC's inquiry into Israel-Palestine conflict

Xinhua, January 18, 2015 Adjust font size:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday condemned the International Criminal Court (ICC)'s decision to kick off a preliminary probe into possible war crimes committed against Palestinians.

He slammed the court's decision as "preposterous" and "folly."

"It's absurd for the ICC to go after Israel, which upholds the highest standards of international law," Netanyahu said in a televised statement from his Jerusalem office.

Netanyahu argued that Israel was only trying to defend itself against "Palestinian terrorists who routinely commit multiple war crimes."

He also said that those who should be prosecuted by ICC are Palestinian extremists, adding that "they deliberately fire thousands of rockets at our civilians, while hiding behind Palestinian civilians whom they used a human shield."

Israeli Channel 2 news reported on Saturday that Netanyahu held a telephone call with U.S. State Secretary John Kerry, and asked Washington to help prevent the ICC from going forward with the inquiry.

The United States had reacted earlier to the ICC's move, condemning it as "counterproductive to the cause of peace."

On Friday, the U.S. State Department said it was "a tragic irony that Israel, which has withstood thousands of terrorist rockets fired at its civilians and its neighborhoods, is now being scrutinized by the ICC."

Washington has also argued that Palestine is not a state and therefore not eligible to join the ICC, according to the Israeli Haaretz news website.

In Palestine, the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) hailed the move as an "important and positive step towards achieving justice and guaranteeing respect for the international law."

Fawzi Barhoum, Hamas spokesman in Gaza, also welcomed ICC's decision, saying it is "the right step in the right direction."

The spokesman also said that Hamas is ready to work with the ICC by providing all needed documents, evidence and testimonies that would "show that the Israeli enemy committed war crimes in Gaza against our people."

The ICC announced on Friday that it decided to open an initial inquiry "to check if there is a reasonable base for starting the probe into possible war crimes committed in the Palestinian territories."

The decision came after the PNA signed the Rome Statute and joined the ICC earlier this month.

Nearly 2,200 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed in last's summer 50-day-long war in the Gaza Strip. Israel saw the loss 73 people, all but six were soldiers. Enditem