Stephen supports International Criminal Court investigation
Ahmed Abu Hameeda | @ahmed96 via Unsplash
Stephen has expressed his desire for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate events in Israel and Gaza.
The ICC has stated it has jurisdiction to investigate these events despite Israel not being a member. This is because Palestine is a signatory to the ICC and events have taken place not only by Israel in Gaza, which is one of the Occupied Palestinian Territories, but also by Palestinians on Israeli territory with the 7 October terror attacks.
In December last year, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution that called for all parties to respect their obligations under international law, to allow full, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access into and throughout Gaza and to create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities. The UK supported this resolution.
Speaking about the investigation, Stephen said “I support the independence of the ICC to undertake its investigations. I believe the allegations of breaches of international humanitarian law should be treated with the utmost seriousness and must always be investigated. Assessing specific allegations is the proper task of lawyers and competent international courts.”