Israel says Palestinian request to ICC has no legal validity

Reuters

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel on Tuesday questioned the legal validity of a Palestinian request to the International Criminal Court to investigate alleged human rights violations linked to Israeli settlement policies in occupied territories. "The purported Palestinian referral is legally invalid, and the ICC lacks jurisdiction over the Israeli-Palestinian issue, since Israel is not a member of the Court and because the Palestinian Authority is not a state," the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement, calling the move a "cynical step". (Editing by Jeffrey Heller)