Mehdi Ashna told the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations that on the last day of last year, the United Nations General Assembly decided to ask this Court to declare its opinion on the continuation of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank after 60 years, based on the rules of international law.

“Of course, since 2014 and after the war of that year against Gaza and the criminal actions of the Zionist regime, Palestinians had filed a complaint in the International Criminal Court,” he said referring to the decisions of the security cabinet of the Zionist regime in response to the appeal of the Palestinian Authority to the International Court of Justice to end the occupation of this regime.

He added that this complaint has been followed up and recently the International Criminal Court confirmed its competence to deal with this issue and announced that it will soon begin its investigation, but the initiation of this investigation and the actions to be taken are still unclear. The subject of this complaint is not the occupation, and this legal complaint has been made regarding genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in the occupied West Bank and al-Quds.

Ashna said that Palestinians have taken this action to pursue the issue of Palestine more seriously at the international level due to the new radical and right-wing Zionist cabinet that has taken office and has taken measures to annex parts of the West Bank. The complaints of the Palestinians can cause special concerns for the Zionist regime; Because the International Criminal Court only has the jurisdiction to deal with a matter when both sides of the dispute declare their consent to it; But the Zionist regime and even the United States have not become members of this court. For this reason, the International Criminal Court can only conduct investigations in the Palestinian territories, and due to the fact that the Zionist regime is not a member of it, the execution of the issued judgments is uncertain.

Reminding that the International Criminal Court is a UN entity, he said that the Zionist regime has already agreed to comply with the results of investigations and legal rules that fall under the jurisdiction of this court. This issue can have adverse consequences for this regime.

He stated that the decision of this court is advisory and the General Assembly and the court do not have the power to implement it.

“However, if a decision is issued against Israel and in favor of the Palestinians, it could have negative consequences for Israel and introduce the continuation of the occupation of the Zionist regime as illegal and harmful to the Palestinians’ right to self-determination. This decision would declare Israel’s action as de facto and illegal annexation, which must be reversed. It can even recommend the criminal court to pursue its investigation into the war crimes of the Zionist regime, which is a cause for concern for this regime; Because its officials may be prosecuted.

This expert on West Asian issues continued that a positive vote in favor of the Palestinians can cause a new wave of embargo on goods manufactured in the occupied territories, and there may be restrictions on the movement of diplomats of the Zionist regime in other countries.

Ashna stated that this decision can incite violence between the Zionist regime, the settlers and the Palestinians and intensify the resistance operations of the Palestinians, adding that the Zionist regime has the means to deal with it and will try to impose its views on court judges through its allies and non-governmental organizations.

He said that the voting that took place in December 2022 was conducted a few weeks ago in a preliminary manner. In the preliminary voting, more votes were gathered against Israel, and in the interval of re-voting, the representatives of this regime had the opportunity to reduce the votes in favor of the Court of Justice’s investigation by diplomatic consultations with its allied and African countries. Such consultations can still be carried out and have an impact on the judge’s decision, in such a way that the issued decision does not put much pressure on the Zionist regime.

This expert on West Asian issues called the actions that Israel has put on the agenda against the PLO as strict and said that these actions create a lot of pressure against the PLO, affect the construction of the Palestinians in the West Bank, and also a part of the amount that the Zionist regime should have paid to the PLO from taxes is deducted and paid as compensation to the Jewish settlers and soldiers of the Zionist regime who were attacked by the Palestinians in various resistance operations.

Ashna said that another restriction imposed by the Zionist regime is the suspension of the travel card to the West Bank and the occupied territories used by the authorities of the PLO, adding that the new Zionist government wants to show that it will not make any concessions to the Palestinians and by pursuing cases such as complaints to the International Criminal Court, it will also have consequences for the Palestinians.

He emphasized that the Palestinians have no other choice but to go ahead with their decision and not withdraw from pursuing the case.

“Losing hope in the reconciliation process can increase the wave of violence and conflicts and will have very negative consequences. In addition, the process of normalizing relations between the Zionist regime and the Arab countries may be damaged.”

Ashna added that Saudi Arabia is the next candidate for the normalization of relations with the Zionist regime, and such a decision and its consequences, which may lead to more violence, will pose a greater challenge for Riyadh to cooperate with Israel. The Zionist regime puts heavy pressure on the PLO to give up trying to pursue the Palestinian issue at the international level and not to pursue the complaint, but it seems that the result of these pressures will end up being more detrimental to the Zionist regime.