The International Criminal Court (ICC) [website] sent a delegation to Israel and Palestine Wednesday for a five-day visit [press release] aimed at education and outreach in the region. The ICC stated that the trip will not serve to gather evidence or make assessments pertaining to alleged crimes falling under its jurisdiction. A statement by the court distinguished between the outreach trip and the current, preliminary investigations into the situation in Palestine. The ICC stated that maintaining the integrity and independence of each function from the other was salient to preventing “politicization” of the investigation process.

The violence in the ongoing Israel-Palestinian conflict [HRW backgrounder] has created contentious legal and human rights situations. In July Amnesty International called upon Palestinian and Israeli officials [JURIST report] to address human rights violations committed by their forces. The UN Committee Against Torture, a body of independent experts, released closing remarks [JURIST report] to its fifty-seventh session in May, expressing concern about the use of excessive force by Israeli forces against Palestinians. An Israeli court in April convicted [JURIST report] Yosef Haim for the 2014 murder of a Palestinian teenager that led to the 50-day war in Gaza. UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories resigned [JURIST report] from his position in January, saying that Israel has not granted him access to the OPT after repeated requests.