the u.n. humanitarian chief. spoke about eritrean troops countless well corroborated reports suggest there culpability for atrocities eritrean defense forces must leave ethiopia and they must not be enabled or permitted to continue their campaign of destruction before they do so meanwhile the un high commissioner for human rights michel says an independent inquiry into what's going on in t. great needs to be carried out now she says some of the atrocities appear to amount to war crimes out 0 at the united nations. this is a disease of the top stories pope francis has arrived in iraq fulfilling a decades long promise by the vatican and becoming the 1st pontiff to visit the country the visit is his 1st trip outside italy since the pandemic began to be

welcomed by the prime minister in baghdad before meeting president obama himself at the presidential palace some 14 has more from baghdad most people that i have spoken have been really excited about this visit because it's not just important for the questions and also in a way shows that iraq is perhaps they will enough to welcome the pope we have very few western heads of state or important dignitaries visit this country precisely because it is a full theater with instability with war for just the very fact that the pope is coming to iraq and he is trusting the iraqi state protect him that he feels comfortable going not just to the airport into the green zone but outside the green zone around across baghdad to move around across iraq it is in a way very encouraging to ordinary iraqis not just pressure that perhaps this is a new page for iraq. china's unveiled plans to overhaul hong kong's electoral system allowing beijing veto power over who can run for the legislative council the

announcement was made during the national people's congress the country's biggest annual political gathering the proposed changes would mean a pro china election committee decides which candidates can run for legislative council seats the move will effectively stamp out any opposition in hong kong's parliament there are reports of least one person has died in the city of mandalay bay after protesters clashed with police many have been defying a crackdown and marching to demand an end to the military coup activists are out in a number of cities 38 people were killed on wednesday. senegal's government has banned a planned gathering of opposition and civil society groups in the capital on friday after supporters of all smiling song called a leading opposition figure for 2 with police at a university campus in dakar those are the headlines coming up next on al-jazeera it's inside story by.

the international criminal court investigates alleged war crimes on palestinian territory israel calls it scandalous all the palestinians say it's long overdue so what can the inquiry achieve this is inside story. hello and welcome to the program. some call it a chance for peace others an attack on israel the international criminal court is opening an investigation into alleged war crimes in the palestinian territories

it's a look into accusations of violations by both the israeli military and palestinian armed groups the palestinians have been pushing for the probe since joining the i.c.c. 6 years ago neither israel nor its close ally the united states are part of the court both have criticized the decision we'll bring in our guests in a moment 1st this report from the dead but on him in the occupied west bank. this is a moment many palestinians have been waiting for the international criminal court you must be getting allegations of war crimes in palestinian territory including violence against protesters near the gaza israeli offensive a few years ago. but the clearest violation of international law is the illegal israeli settlements in the occupied west bank more than 600000 israelis live in jewish only settlements killing any possibility for a future palestinian state it's been 6 years since palestine joined the

international criminal court earlier this year the i.c.c. is chief prosecutor received a green light from the pretrial chamber confirming the court's jurisdiction over gaza and the west bank including occupied east jerusalem i think that we will be encouraging of prosecutor to look at all the situation in palestine all crimes crimes against humanity and war crimes and mainly the settlements regime because there is no complementarity and such. and this is a state policy and this is the state of the government of israel policies and it's a systematic and widespread violation for international law or cause family hopes the court brings them justice he is one of the palestinians bodies have been confiscated from their family. of collective punishment a recent report by you case for end sick architecture says it was shot and bled to

death after being denied medical treatment israeli soldiers killed met at a checkpoint near a body stone the army said he tried to run over soldiers but the report says he didn't pose a threat. i lost a little girl at that he used his son as a guinea pig a subject for the training this is a continuing policy that dozens have been killed like this off to my son and hundreds before he. dies he's chief prosecutor says it's also investigating allegations against palestinian armed groups in gaza. you can't equate the oppressor with the oppressed and the israeli occupation policies constitute a grave violation of international law but our national resistance is legitimate. israel is not a member of the hague based court prime minister benjamin netanyahu termed the decision absurd and anti-semitic without any decision this cited are

brutes all jews who do every precaution to avoid civilian casualties against the worst terrorist in the world we do liberally do this is good it is our soldiers who are war rooms this israeli government so that's considering functioning palestinian officials and in response to the i.c.c. opening its investigation they might even advance more theft in the building. than. all right let's bring in our guests in west jerusalem and herzberg legal advisor at indio monitor an organization that analyzes output of the international ngo community from a pro israel perspective in gaza raji sort ani lawyer and director of the palestinian center for human rights and in london william schabas professor of international law and former chair person of the commission of inquiry on the 2014 gaza conflict welcome to the program william let me start with you today what from

your perspective happens next how long do you think that this investigation might take and what might it ultimately achieve. it's very hard to tell how long it will take this is a matter for the prosecutor she's been working on the situation although not in the context of a formal investigation for a number of years now so she must have quite a substantial file i don't that she's going to be able to pursue her investigation on the territory because of problems getting access to the territory so it might as my sense is that there's probably not a great deal more to be done the next visible sign we should see of the chord is likely to be the issuance of an arrest warrant. by the by the judges in the arrest warrant or a summons and that will come that could also come by the way. secretly they can issue a sealed arrest warrant in the hopes perhaps of catching one of the accused off

guard when they travel outside of the territory and is it your point of view on this that the oslo accords do not allow the court from asserting jurisdiction and if not why is that. yes i think it's very clear when you look at the oslo accords which the palestinians mutually agreed to with the israelis in their mid ninety's the accords say that the palestinians have no criminal jurisdiction over israelis whatsoever and they do not have the ability to delegate criminal jurisdiction over any israelis whatsoever to any other institution international institution and it was quite surprising actually reading the chamber's decision where they basically ignore this issue of the dissent when incidents but the majority opinion barely touched on it at all and i think it'll be quite interesting because i have the doubt that they will get any israelis in custody at the corner

i would find that to be quite remote however if they do this certainly be an issue never come up razi the palestinian authorities ministry of foreign affairs has urged a prompt conclusion of the investigation given how long it's taken to get even to this point do you think that that's possible. ready to the court of. in the persecutor been strudel. they acted i mean there was increased security pressure on them to the team. since february 1st amounted by israel us to was able to work on this we want and need the conditions for the persecutor to act with an independent professional environment and they do what they have to do

we as representatives of victims. will coming to this historic decision and we have a trust. in and in the persecutor office does the do the homework. william said rightly they have a particular net here and they have very good working on this precisely for the last 6 years and we supported them with what a lot a lot of informations existence ringback by. i hope this will be their work they know the road map. to proceed and we will be in their assistance and the whole they will be allowed investigative team to come with the

crown crying here in got those time to close and to see buying their own eyes and to talk to the people directly and to cool but they have to. go up the chain of command to clear and sing and the court knows most of what i am your heard rajiv there mention far too been sued you mentioned her a moment ago as well she of course is the outgoing. schieffer prosecutor at the international criminal court i want to talk for a moment about the fact that soon she is going to be replaced by another chief prosecutor kareem hahn is coming into that role in june do you believe that that could cause in the issues what i mean by that is that it's my understanding that kareem hahn is not bound to any of the decisions made by bensouda do we perhaps know his position on this case is it likely he would carry it forward could

it cause any hiccups going forward well he is going to take over in june of this year is the prosecutor fed to bent's who will enter term she doesn't have much time left let's remember that the decision that she received the favorable decision of the beginning of february she had asked for about a year earlier and for some reason the pretrial chamber a long time to issue the decision had they done it earlier she might be more advanced the moment but absolutely it's going to go to the new prosecutor he's a man who's been working in the international justice system for many many years and he's well known to all of us he's a very competent lawyer and a man of integrity and he will take the decision as he as he sizes things up by i don't have any particular insight into his views on this issue if he has any except that he like his predecessor is committed to doing the job with independence and impartiality and that doesn't mean that he will take exercise his discretion

differently than the current prosecutor will have to wait until june to see that and is it likely or unlikely that israel will cooperate formally with this investigation will they for example allow investigators into territories that israel controls. and i would find that highly unlikely i would not be surprised to perhaps find the scenes there's a meeting like a line actually taken literally when a new prosecutor takes her since he may have a very different outlook on this case and in a different approach to the case however i do not foresee the israeli government allowing her office any access to the territories raji do you believe that palestinian groups like hamas will also be investigated for war crimes when it comes to this investigation putting we have nothing to worry about and we're not

and decision includes stores as rotund on the group mention the political but as. agreed signed on petition when barisan tarbox wanted to sign under to fire on those that they are endorsing this and they are supporting this as well i think yesterday the issue very clear cut statement and they will come with out and that is the ration the decision opens to the source. i mean there will be happy and to engage you. in any coming investigation and i want to 'd ringback say something mean israel. never was. a member state of the i.c.c. or they have signed on record by this though when we began to engage with the i

mean they were having all the record meeting i mean with the i.c.c. prosecutor or as we know about that and we were a lot of the. road to bring get quite a lot of away from there is many states a repro a champ but. when will the us court. submissions because. it's 3 members. missions. as many countries who floyd and days are the going to view legally so this is a heavy heavy. besides all the security threats and may be exposed or i.c.c. prosecutor always be so it's or that that is against the b.b.c. and it looked to me like you may have wanted to jump in to respond to some of what roger was saying please go ahead yeah you know i do think it's worth pointing out

that israel is not a member of the court it would have liked to join the court but it was pretty well aware that it was going to take this type of direction politicized direction and the court originally be aberrations in 2002 and the fact that they have now allowed themselves to exercise jurisdiction over the palestinian authority which itself is not a state and does not have the capacity legally to join the rome statute. you know it's one of the reasons why this case is so contentious. and that is why so many countries spoke out against this move by the prosecutor our many other irish concern we have is you know potentially she may investigate hamas will have to wait and see but one thing that greatly concerned me and there her brief to the court last year as was in the pretrial chamber decision was they only refer to israeli authorities how mass and how's doing armed groups that appear to exclude austan

enough already and there are many many documented or crimes committed by palestinian authority officials and so i find that highly troubling that the court appears to be giving them a free pass. to be investigated when it's clear they have a lot of responsibility. for many crimes not only against israelis but also against palestinians wm based on what you've seen do you believe that the i.c.c. is going to investigate groups like hamas or that they would investigate palestinian officials had the prosecutor's already made it clear that that does fall within the scope of the referral and so yes i mean i would have no reason to think that that she wouldn't do that i think it's been clear she hasn't the previous speakers suggested that there was something a bit suspicious about the fact that she didn't mention the palestinian authority but i don't think there can be any doubt from the statement she's made that the

palestinian authority is also include everybody who is on the territory of palestine or who is done acts that effect that there. is in principle. subject to the jurisdiction that could be investigated by her but like all prosecutors she keeps her cards close to her vest which is normal and appropriate and we'll have to wait and see from her actions what she does but she has made statements making it clear that she's investigating come out and i believe the palestinian authority and any other individuals on the territory raj if investigators from the i.c.c. don't have access to territories controlled by israel how will they go about collecting testimonies what will that process look like. one time in number in whether israel allowed any investigative team from by they who or any other body if you can visit the cooper territories they have

a block any in missions of inquiry or investigation bodies and need to come and visit they could put it is including the special 'd happened to or they complained territory's of the human brain scans i'm sure most likely i mean you know. we're not because of the names that nations stage ringback. they wanted to come and visit us and 2015 and to see by their own our lives what's happening what's going on on the ground there a bit of destruction all declaims i mean we have against the israeli army and crimes i mean they did it in the gaza in the gulf in support of them because of the poor people but they were absolutely did not mean to come to all and that's why our victims whom we're representing disappointed through

zoom anscar him with the translation for them we mostly didn't hear and they were you know investigating been some was calm and zoom show we will love i mean 23 years or and disappointing and be another that i mean to come today to point to a place and took him to their advantage to get them to see what the crimes policy and then what they did to. me i suspect that most likely i mean they will be denied access because that's their record of israel with any justice missions that. is besides. the. i think even passivity if you will to the book is just. victims.

their families will be mission impossible and need to leave gaza and to go to hate this. serious a problem even some some embers and 30 cases if we say 20 of the cases we want to take the victims and their families immediately in order for in a court it will be very hard if not we should report stupid in gaza subjected to 2 criminal. blockade for the last 2 or pene years imposed boy is or. that will make him very hard even poorer becomes to go themselves to the court to get a discount look to their eyes and listen to them directly and to deal with them humanly . so that's why most likely there will be once and again having a high intake izumi order. 'd to transfer the

message i hope i'm wrong and the whole israel. disappoint us and the. i.c.c. investigative team to come to the point. i hope the same time that you know i'm i'm to go and be at it i'm starting or up here just that we're starting to run out of time and i just want to ask a question of and right now with regards to how all this might impact elections in israel do you believe that this announcement as far as the investigation of the i.c.c. is this going to end up favoring parties and candidates who would take a stronger line against palestinians and perhaps are more supportive of expansion of settlements i think that and his decision that not only has that the peace process and definitely could involve an hour and as individuals you know as i want

to have. you know more out maybe punitive measures. dealing with the palestinians so that that's definitely a possibility. i you know i don't see how you know when really what this whole case really is about is about politics the palestinians over the almost 10 years ago said that they want to go to the international court and use it as a political weapon in order if you advance its nationalist claims to advance its rejectionist points towards a state of israel rather than getting engaged in negotiations and working out a compromise for a 2 state solution and so you know that's the way things should be going rather than the palestinians taking these unilateral steps to be going to these international bodies. and so unfortunately i think what the court has got here has really set back the cause for peace and the ability to are less in the conflict in

this area and it's quite unfortunate william the u.s. announced that it is firmly opposed to and disappointed by this i.c.c. decision to investigate 1st i want to ask you if that could impact the proceedings going forward in any way as far as you know the political pressure that the court could come under also i want to ask you if you think that u.s. president biden will maintain the sanctions that were imposed on the i.c.c. officials by the trumpet ministration well the trumpet ministration made it very clear that they were angry about the prosecutor's investigation both into the american conduct in afghanistan but also into the investigation of their close outlook which is israel i don't think that that general policy has changed although no doubt the by the administration is not going to be as hostile and then taking

the step towards the. as was the administration of donald trump and his secretary of state might come pale but i think anyone who expects the united states is now going to fall in love with the international criminal court is going to have a rude surprise i do think if i may say that the i disagree with the previous speaker who talked about the threat to peace i actually think that this is a new element in the intractable conflict israel and palestine the decades have gone by without a result resolution and without any clear idea of where this ends and a new ingredient just as international justice to be directed at both sides has the potential to to to to kind of shuffle the cards a little bit and hopefully make make a final. peaceful agreement more possible and not less possible and we should welcome this william just very quickly i want to ask you some have

said there's a concern that the u.n. security council could at some point step in and delay the investigation perhaps if they're able to get a peace process restarted just very quickly do you think that something that might happen it's theoretically possible under the rome statute but article 16 of the room statute would require the security council to adopt a resolution and that's going to require the 5 affirmative votes or the cooperation of the permanent members the united states obvious new will try to get the courts or will be in a position to do it but i don't think that we can assume that russia and china are going to agree so i think that that's it's theoretically possible i think it's unlikely all right we've run out of times we're going to have to leave the conversation there thank you so much to all of our guests and herzberg sort ani and william schabas. and thank you too for watching you can watch this and all our previous episodes anytime of visiting our website al jazeera dot com and for further discussion go to our facebook page that's facebook dot com forward slash a.j. inside story you can also join the conversation on twitter our handle is at a.j.

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