The International Criminal Court said Palestinian authorities had formally recognized the court's jurisdiction to investigate crimes allegedly committed during last summer's Gaza war.
The legal declaration would allow the ICC to scrutinize offences allegedly committed since June 13, 2014, the start of Israel's military operation, but does not mean the court would automatically launch an investigation, it said.
Palestine has formally requested to join the Hague-based court in a move which opens the way to file suit against Israeli officials for alleged war crimes in the occupied territories, a request that has infuriated Israel.
Acceptance of the ICC's jurisdiction differs from accession to the Rome Statute, the court's founding treaty. The UN is still reviewing documents submitted to join the Court.
"On 1 January 2015, the Registrar of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Herman von Hebel, received a document... by the Palestinian government declaring Palestine's acceptance of the jurisdiction of the ICC since 13 June 2014," the ICC said in a statement.
It was on June 13 that Israel began a massive crackdown on the West Bank after the kidnapping and subsequent murder of three Israeli teenagers, triggering a series of events which led to a seven-week Gaza war that killed nearly 2,200 Palestinians and 73 Israelis. more
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