Arab League calls on ICC to probe ‘Israeli crimes’

CAIRO: The Arab League´s Permanent Committee on Human Rights on Tuesday urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor to urgently investigate "the crimes of the Israeli occupation" against Palestinians.

"Israel is an oppressive and murderous entity and its politicians and officers must be taken to the International Criminal Court," Amjad Shamout, the committee´s chairman, said in a statement.

Shamout was referring to the killing of dozens of Palestinian protesters by Israeli forces during protests and clashes on Monday over the deeply controversial opening of a US embassy in Jerusalem. The Arab League will hold emergency talks Wednesday to discuss what it has called Washington´s "illegal" relocation of its embassy to the disputed city. Jerusalem´s status is perhaps the thorniest issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel considers the entire city its capital, while the Palestinians see east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.