The International Criminal Court at The Hague has adjourned without announcing a decision on whether to investigate Israel for alleged war crime violations against Palestinians in Judea and Samaria and Gaza.
Israeli diplomats and legal experts on Thursday had braced for the ICC to announce its decision imminently, expecting the panel of three judges to accept the position of chief ICC prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, whereby "the Palestinian territories fall under the jurisdiction of the court."
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According to Walla News portal, Israeli officials believe the ICC will resume work on the case in mid-August, after its summer vacation.
Last December, Bensouda announced her intention to open a full investigation into possible "war crimes" that may have occurred between Israel and the Palestinians, almost immediately sparking outcry from Israeli officials.
The probe would reportedly focus on Operation Protective Edge, Israel's 50-day war with the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip during summer 2014.
The possibility of such an investigation is a particularly sensitive subject for the Jewish state, which is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, the treaty upon which the International Criminal Court is predicated, and has openly declared its view that the ICC is not within its jurisdiction to investigate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Palestinians adopted the treaty in 2015.
The looming decision had even prompted the Israeli authorities to even draw up a list with the names of some 200-300 defense officials and IDF officers liable to be prosecuted by ICC, according to the Haaretz newspaper.
In June, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned the ICC that the United States would "exact consequences" against the court if it goes through with its investigation against Israel.
Jerusalem and Washington have both argued that they have credible judiciaries that can properly investigate and, if need be to prosecute, human rights violations, making the ICC's intervention redundant.
US President Donald Trump's administration has backed Israel in its battle against the ICC.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said in the past that Bensouda's decision "has turned the International Criminal Court into a political tool to delegitimize the State of Israel. The prosecutor has completely ignored the legal arguments we presented to her."
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