"We are in the analysis phase. I have not yet decided whether we will launch an investigation, but it is a possibility," Luis Moreno-Ocampo told the Argentinean newspaper Perfil, just a few days after the ICC issued an international arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who is accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.
In an interview that was published on Sunday, Moreno-Ocampo said he was examining complaints filed by Palestinian Justice Minister Ali Kashan in January, which stated that Israel used incendiary white phosphorus shells in crowded civilian areas in Gaza, in violation of international law.
The ICC prosecutor said Amnesty International and the Arab League had also presented his office with documentation related to Israel's alleged illegal activities in the Hamas-ruled territory.
Moreno-Ocampo initially dismissed the Palestinians' appeals to the ICC, saying he could not build a case against Israel as it was not a signatory to the Rome Statute. However, he said he was re-examining the possibility of launching an investigation into Israel after the Palestinian Authority submitted documents recognizing the ICC's authority.
In accordance with the Rome Statute, which created the ICC, only a state can accept the court's jurisdiction and allow such an investigation to be launched.
Last month, Kashan and Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki announced that they had submitted documents to Moreno-Ocampo that proved Palestine was a legal state with the right to request such a probe.
"Today we came to deliver a set of documents that shows that Palestine as a state ... has the ability to present a case to the court and to ask for an investigation into crimes committed by the Israeli army," Kashan said then. "We will deliver more information about war crimes and crimes against humanity -- not only in Gaza during the last Israeli attack, but also from 2002 until this moment."
Kashan said the documents included evidence of war crimes.
Malki said they had provided proof that Palestine was recognized as a state by 67 countries and had bilateral agreements with states in Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe.
Describing themselves as "fighters for human rights," the ministers said the Palestinians had been "looking for justice for a very long time."
"What we seek here is justice," Malki said. "We want to create a precedent."
Malki also said then that Hamas was not party to the ICC initiative. "We represent the Palestinian occupied territories. We are not going to ask permission from one faction or another," he said.
