During another routine meeting, this time the 17th session of the Assembly of State Parties of the International Criminal Court, the Palestinian Authority’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Riad Al-Maliki, complained of the ICC’s procrastination in investigating Israel for war crimes. Al-Maliki is reported to have expressed his “disappointment” during his meeting with ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda. “Any delay in the investigation is a delay in bringing justice and gives the occupying power impunity and more time to commit its daily crimes,” he pointed out.

Al-Maliki is no novice when it comes to invoking the damage of such delays. Indeed, the PA is guilty of the same thing, and not only in relation to the ICC. It has used delaying tactics on all major issues related to Palestinian rights, paving the way for other institutions to mirror its approach. Joining the ICC was a “threat” made repeatedly by PA President Mahmoud Abbas. By the time that the authority actually acted upon its leader’s rhetoric, though, Israel had committed even more human rights violations against Palestinians. Read more.