A group of 20 people, most of them Palestinian Arabs, filed a complaint with the prosecution in the Netherlands demanding to open an investigation against Israel for allegedly obstructing the investigation procedures of the International Criminal Court.
The complainants claim that Israel tried to interfere with the investigation procedures conducted by the International Criminal Court regarding alleged crimes and human rights violations committed by Israel in Judea and Samaria.
The lawyers representing the group that filed the complaint with the prosecution in the Netherlands claim that they relied on an investigation conducted by the British newspaper The Guardian, which suggests that Israel allegedly tried to influence the heads of the International Criminal Court and even sent veiled threats towards them, in an attempt to stop the investigation into alleged crimes in Judea and Samaria.
According to an agreement with the International Criminal Court located in The Hague, the Netherlands is obligated to protect the safety and security of the court's staff and ensure that the procedures are carried out without external interference or influence.
The investigation found that for years, the intelligence and government leaders in Israel tried to influence, including by sending veiled threats, the heads of the International Criminal Court to stop the investigation into Israel's conduct in Judea and Samaria.
“Israel’s many attempts to influence, sabotage, and stop the investigation constitute a direct violation of their [clients’] right to justice. Israel’s espionage against the ICC may have included breaches of Dutch criminal law as well as offenses against the administration of justice under article 70 of the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC," the complaint letter states.
The complainants' lawyers called on the Dutch prosecution to focus the investigation on senior intelligence and security officials in Israel. A spokesman for the prosecution in the Netherlands told the local media that "the complaint has been received and will be studied."