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Palestinian President Urges ICC to Speed Up Prosecution of ‘Israeli War Criminals’

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas with the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, in Ramallah in the West Bank (AFP)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas with the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, in Ramallah in the West Bank (AFP)
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Palestinian President Urges ICC to Speed Up Prosecution of ‘Israeli War Criminals’

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas with the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, in Ramallah in the West Bank (AFP)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas with the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, in Ramallah in the West Bank (AFP)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to expedite investigations and pursue legal action against Israeli war criminals responsible for war crimes committed in the Palestinian territories.

Abbas met in Ramallah on Saturday with the Chief Prosecutor of the ICC, Karim Khan, and asserted the need to launch investigations into Israel's targeting of civilians, especially children, women, and the elderly.

He briefed the Prosecutor on Israel's violation of the sanctity of hospitals and shelters, the demolition of homes with civilians inside, the crimes of settler-colonial expansion, ethnic cleansing, apartheid, and various other violations of international law and international humanitarian law.

- Cases handover

In 2014, the Palestinian Authority (PA) handed over files to the ICC on multiple Israeli crimes during the war on Gaza.

A year later, the Court opened a preliminary investigation, and in 2021, it approved an inquiry into the commission of "Israeli war crimes" in the Palestinian territories.

Palestine presented three cases at the ICC, including the aggression against Gaza in 2014, during which Israel used excessive force, prohibited weapons, and ordered massacres and killing of civilians.

Another case concerns the Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli prisons and includes ill-treatment of captives and their families and medical neglect that led to the death of some of them.

Furthermore, there is the case against Israeli settlement, including illegal construction on Palestinian land and settlers' terrorism, which led to the killing of Palestinian civilians.

The Palestinians will now submit new files about the current war.

- Delayed justice

For years, the Palestinians have been documenting Israeli crimes in the Palestinian territories.

Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said during his meeting with Khan on Saturday that delaying justice is an absence of justice itself.

Shtayyeh added that the ICC should be for sentencing and deterrence, asserting that for 75 years now, Israel has been acting like it is above the law.

He explained that the responsibility of the Criminal Court is not a moral issue but a legal one.

The Authority wants the Criminal Court to investigate the ongoing war in Gaza and previous wars and inspect all other violations in the West Bank.

- Comprehensive war

The Authority considers that the Israeli war on the Palestinians is comprehensive and not only in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli displacement policy targets Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank as part of an attempt to liquidate the Palestinian issue.

Since Oct. 7, the West Bank witnessed an escalation in Israeli aggression, which included shutting down the West Bank governorates, deploying more military barriers, and launching massive incursions, whether during the day or the night, into most areas.

Israel began using drones to target Palestinians. It also killed and arrested dozens of them, demolished infrastructure, and attacked civilians in their homes.

On Saturday, Israel killed a Palestinian near the town of Tal, west of Nablus.

The Ministry of Health announced on Saturday that Israel shot and killed a civilian in Nablus at the al-Murabbaa checkpoint. The Israeli forces prevented a Palestinian ambulance from reaching him before arresting him while he was injured.

- Israel arrests 3,415 Palestinians

Since Oct. 7, Israel has killed about 250 Palestinians and arrested more than 3,400 in the West Bank. The apprehensions included various areas of Nablus, Tubas, Jenin, Hebron, and Qalqilya and were accompanied by widespread sabotage and home destruction.

The Commission of Detainees' Affairs and the Palestinian Society Prisoner's Club said that the Israeli occupation forces arrested at least 12 Palestinians, including a girl from Tulkarm, on her way back from Jordan.

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Arab World

Palestinian Foreign Ministry Condemns US Ambassador to Israel’s Statements

The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, seen from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP)
The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, seen from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP)
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Palestinian Foreign Ministry Condemns US Ambassador to Israel’s Statements

The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, seen from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP)
The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, seen from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP)

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates condemned statements by the US ambassador to Israel, in which he claimed that Israel has the right to exercise control over the entire Middle East.

The ministry emphasized that these provocative statements constitute a blatant call for aggression against the sovereignty of states.

It added that they support the continuation of the occupation’s war of genocide and displacement, as well as the implementation of its annexation and expansionist plans against the Palestinian people, SPA reported.

The Palestinian foreign ministry pointed out that the statements contradict religious and historical facts and international law, SPA reported.

It called on the US administration to take a clear stance regarding its ambassador to Israel’s remarks, which are completely at odds with the US president’s position rejecting the annexation of the West Bank.

Arab World

Israel Carries Out More Strikes in Lebanon amid Lack of Int’l Assurances on Wider Regional Escalation

People gather near a building damaged in an Israeli strike in the village of Bednayel in eastern Lebanon, 21 February 2026. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
People gather near a building damaged in an Israeli strike in the village of Bednayel in eastern Lebanon, 21 February 2026. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
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Israel Carries Out More Strikes in Lebanon amid Lack of Int’l Assurances on Wider Regional Escalation

People gather near a building damaged in an Israeli strike in the village of Bednayel in eastern Lebanon, 21 February 2026. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
People gather near a building damaged in an Israeli strike in the village of Bednayel in eastern Lebanon, 21 February 2026. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH

Lebanese officials say the country has yet to obtain firm or decisive Western guarantees that it will be spared from a larger confrontation in the region as speculation grows over a potential US strike on Iran.

Chief concerns center on whether Hezbollah would be targeted as part of any large-scale strike, or whether the group might intervene militarily alongside Tehran.

Ministerial sources said Israeli airstrikes on Hamas in the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon, as well as overnight raids targeting Hezbollah in the eastern Bekaa Valley fall within the pattern of ongoing military operations Lebanon, particularly targeted assassinations against figures linked to both groups.

The sources told Asharq Al-Awsat Lebanon has not received explicit Western assurances that it would not be drawn into a wider confrontation if the conflict expands.

On Hezbollah’s position, the sources noted that the group has not offered a clear position on how it would respond to potential developments.

They pointed to behind-the-scenes efforts led primarily by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri who believes “Hezbollah will not take any step if Iran is struck.”

Although Hezbollah has previously declared it “would stand idle” in case of escalation, the sources said the party has not announced any specific military plans.

Statements made by its officials have been vague, they added, citing remarks by head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc Mohammad Raad, who stressed on Friday the party’s commitment to “the security and stability of the country and the continuation of normal life.”

In Lebanon’s official response, President Joseph Aoun strongly condemned the Israeli raids carried out overnight by land and sea, which targeted the Sidon area and towns in the Bekaa.

He described the continued attacks as “blatant aggression” aimed at sabotaging Lebanon’s diplomatic efforts with brotherly and friendly nations - foremost among them the United States - to consolidate stability and halt Israeli hostilities.

Aoun said the strikes were a renewed violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and a clear breach of international obligations, particularly United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which calls for a cessation of hostilities and full implementation of its provisions.

The president renewed his appeal to countries supporting regional stability to assume their responsibilities by pressing for an immediate halt to the attacks and ensuring respect for international resolutions in a way that preserves Lebanon’s sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity, and prevents further escalation.

Arab World

Syrian President Confident in Implementation of SDF Agreement

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa shakes hands with Mazloum Abdi, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, in Damascus on March 10, 2025. (SANA)
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa shakes hands with Mazloum Abdi, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, in Damascus on March 10, 2025. (SANA)
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Syrian President Confident in Implementation of SDF Agreement

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa shakes hands with Mazloum Abdi, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, in Damascus on March 10, 2025. (SANA)
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa shakes hands with Mazloum Abdi, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, in Damascus on March 10, 2025. (SANA)

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa is confident in both the mechanism and the pace of implementation of the agreement with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), sources in the capital told Asharq Al-Awsat on Saturday.

The sources, who met al-Sharaa days earlier, said the president believes he has “a thousand solutions to every problem” related to unifying Syria “as land and people,” despite what they described as attempts by a hardline faction within the SDF to derail the process.

The government appears determined to move forward. Damascus has begun implementing what it calls an “integration” of state institutions with the Kurdish-led group’s administrative and military structures.

Political writer Ibrahim al-Jabin said al-Sharaa is also closely managing developments in Hasakah province through understandings with the international coalition and the US military, which is vacating bases and transferring them to Syria’s Ministry of Defense.

Al-Jabin, who attended a recent meeting between the president and Arab writers participating in the Damascus International Book Fair, said al-Sharaa projected assurance about the agreement’s trajectory.

He pointed to a “hardline current” within the SDF seeking to push matters toward collapse, describing recent remarks by Ilham Ahmed as efforts to provoke Damascus while containing dissatisfaction among supporters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), who are critical of what they see as concessions by the SDF.

At the same time, al-Jabin said a strong current within the SDF is leaning toward pragmatism and compromise, shifting from a militia mindset to a governing role. He cited Decree No. 13, which grants Syrian Kurds long-demanded rights, including citizenship for those previously denied it and recognition of Kurdish-language instruction in areas with significant Kurdish populations. These measures, he added, are proceeding in parallel with US support for Damascus’ approach.

On Friday, Ilham Ahmed, co-chair of the Autonomous Administration’s Department of Foreign Relations, told the Kurdish channel Ronahi that many provisions of the Jan. 29 agreement had yet to be implemented, warning of “the risk of a new war in Syria.”

She accused the government of resisting meaningful Kurdish participation in state institutions and said hate speech from some sectors was obstructing progress.

Kurdish political researcher Mahdi Daoud described Ahmed’s remarks as “provocative,” arguing that the Democratic Union Party (PYD) benefits from heightened tensions and feels stronger in times of instability.

Daoud said it was too early to fully assess the integration mechanism, but noted that a plane landed at Qamishli airport on Saturday without incident, a sign of relative calm.

In a related development, Syria’s General Authority of Civil Aviation formally assumed control of Qamishli airport under the January 29 agreement.

Authorities also released 51 detainees from Alaya prison, still run by the SDF, in coordination with Hasakah Governor Noureddine Ahmad and local tribal leaders, alongside a presidential amnesty issued by al-Sharaa.