The Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki on Thursday labeled the Israeli offensive in Gaza a "war of revenge" and called for a immediate cease-fire.
Al-Maliki's comments came during a visit to the Hague amid Israel's ongoing bombardment of the besieged territory, in response to the Oct. 7 Hamas incursion.
"This time the war that Israel is waging is different. This time ... it's a war of revenge," Maliki said in The Hague. "First we need to end this one-sided aggression and then we need to call for a cease-fire."
He told reporters at a press conference at the Palestinian Authority's mission to The Hague that "a cease-fire is essential... for the distribution of humanitarian aid."
Maliki flew into the Dutch city earlier Wednesday and met top officials at the International Criminal Court (ICC) including its chief prosecutor, Karim Khan.
"The situation in Gaza is so dangerous now that it needs immediate intervention by the (ICC) prosecutor," Maliki said.
He said the Palestinian Authority was "working with the ICC prosecutor" and providing the court "with all information to take action."
Minister al-Maliki briefed the heads of the ICC on the Israeli "crimes and destruction" in Gaza, according to the official WAFA news agency.
He met with ICC President Judge Piotr Hofmanski and ICC Registrar Osvaldo Zavala during which he informed them on "the extent of crime and destruction caused by Israel, the occupying power, without any accountability."
The top Palestinian diplomat also "stressed the need for ICC to complete its criminal investigation and bring the Israeli perpetrators of war crimes to justice."
Meanwhile, the Palestinians made a second submission to the U.N.'s highest International Court of Justice, which is also based in The Hague.
The U.N.'s general Assembly has asked the ICJ's judges for an advisory opinion on occupation in Palestine.
Chief Prosecutor Khan's office said earlier this month it was "continuously gathering information" in support of its probe into the Palestinian situation.
It opened a formal investigation in 2021 into the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, including alleged crimes by Israeli forces and by Hamas and Palestinian armed groups.
The prosecutor's office "put in place a dedicated team to advance the investigation in relation to the situation in the State of Palestine, the first time a fully resourced team had been established in relation to this situation," it said.
Set up in 2002, the ICC's is the only global independent tribunal to probe the world's worst crimes including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Palestine signed up to the court's founding Rome Statute in 2015.
Israel, which is not a member of the ICC, has refused to cooperate with the probe or recognize its jurisdiction.
