Turkey welcomes ICC probe into alleged Israeli war crimes

Turkey on Saturday welcomed the International Criminal Court's (ICC) probe into alleged war crimes committed in Palestine.
"It is essential to bring Israel to account for the crimes committed in Palestine and the human rights violations it is responsible for and to provide international protection to Palestinians for ending the decadeslong injustice in Palestine," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said in a statement.
"Otherwise, Israel will continue to commit these crimes with impunity due to the unconditional support of some third countries," Aksoy added.
He urged the ICC to initiate an investigation into this blatant support of Israeli violations of international law.
Numan Kurtulmuş, the acting chair of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), also welcomed the ICC decision, calling it a "historic step."
"We call on all nations on the side of peace and humanity to support this effort," he said in a tweet.
"Palestine will eventually win, humanity will win," he concluded.
Fatou Bensouda, the chief prosecutor of the ICC, said Friday there is a reasonable basis to investigate alleged war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories.
"In brief, I am satisfied that war crimes have been or are being committed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip," she said in a statement, without naming Israel.
Palestinians have long sought to carve out their own nation in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip – territory captured by Israel in the 1967 war – as a way to end decades of tensions.
The two-state solution has long had broad international support, including from the U.S., until President Donald Trump came to power in 2017 and made a series of pro-Israel policy shifts.