Family hoping for justice after court’s ruling

GAZA CITY — The father of a Palestinian boy killed in an Israeli missile strike in 2014 expressed renewed hope for justice Saturday after the International Criminal Court paved the way for a possible war crimes probe into Israeli military actions.

The court ruled Friday that its jurisdiction extends to the territories occupied by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, including the Gaza Strip where Subhi Bakr’s 10yearold son, Mohammed, and three of the boy’s cousins were killed as they played soccer on a beach.

“Better late than never,” said Bakr, walking Saturday on the beach where the boys were killed during the 2014 war between Israel and Gaza’s rulers, the Islamic militant group Hamas.

The ICC ruling opened the door for possible war crimes probes into Israeli military actions during that war and Israeli settlement construction on warwon land. Hamas could also come under scrutiny for indiscriminate rocket fire into civilian areas of Israel.

The international tribunal’s chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, has yet to open an official investigation. In 2019, Bensouda said there was a “reasonable basis” to open a war crimes probe, but she asked the court to determine whether she has territorial jurisdiction before proceeding. That came after the fiveyear preliminary inquiry to determine whether war crimes were committed during the 2014 fighting.

Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, welcomed the ICC’s finding, calling it “an important step” toward justice for the Palestinian people. Hazem Qassem, a Hamas spokesman, urged the court to take “practical measures on the ground” to hold Israel accountable for what he said were its crimes.

Bakr is anxious to see quick action by the court. “The most important thing for the investigation is to start; if it did not, then there is no justice in the world,” he said.

On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the court ruling as a “perversion of justice“and vowed to fight it.

The U.S., Israel’s closest ally, also said it opposed the decision.

Palestinian expert Jamil Sarhan, head of the Independent Commission for Human Rights’ Gaza office, was cautious about the ICC’s ruling.

“Let’s wait for the investigation to begin and for its results,” he wrote on Facebook, “because negative results for us could come by time, and we may not achieve what we are aspiring for.”

Jaafar Ashtiyeh / AFP / Getty Images Israeli security forces fire tear gas during clashes with Palestinians who had gathered to protest the expansion of settlements near the village of Beit Dajan in the occupied West Bank.