The Arab League on Thursday called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to launch an urgent criminal investigation into Israel’s approval of a law allowing the death penalty for Palestinian prisoners, warning of grave legal and humanitarian consequences.
The call came in a resolution issued at the conclusion of an emergency meeting held by the Cairo-based league on the legislation, which was approved earlier this week by the Israeli Knesset.
According to the resolution, the league urged the ICC to prosecute Israeli officials responsible for adopting the law, considering it "a war crime” and part of a system of "oppression and apartheid” against the Palestinian people.
The organization also called on international and human rights organizations to pursue Israeli officials under universal jurisdiction laws in national courts.
It urged the UN Human Rights Council’s ongoing international fact-finding committee to investigate "torture, starvation and inhumane conditions” imposed by Israeli authorities on Palestinian detainees, and to seek access to Israeli prisons.
