The Independent Commission for Human Rights (8) of the Statute of the Court, which affirms that grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions - relevant to the treatment of civilian persons in the occupied Palestinian territories - constitute war crimes, can not be implemented because such Israeli practices are outside the scope of the jurisdiction of the ICC. However, this line of argument is unable to stand up to robust legal arguments and evidence. Mustapha Abu al-Khier, a professor of international law, views that “the legal basis of the international responsibility of Israel implies that Israel, according to the rules of international criminal and civil responsibility, as an occupying power in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, should redress the Palestinians against the damage resulting from its continuous aggression and try the persons responsible for perpetrating war crimes and crimes against humanity of its leaders and military forces. The statute of international criminal responsibility applies to Israel as an occupying power responsible for war crimes against the Palestinian people. Individual criminal responsibility is stated under Article (227) of Versailles Treaty, recognized by Tokyo and Nuremberg Courts as one of international law principles and applied it to trying German and Japanese war criminals. The same case could be considered as a judicial precedent for condemning illegitimate Israeli occupation for its continuous crimes against the Palestinian people... The war crimes and crimes against humanity for which war criminals were tried before Tokyo and Nuremberg Courts are similar to the crimes committed by Israel against the Palestinian people. Therefore, Israeli leaders and officials responsible for such crimes should be brought to justice for their individual criminal responsibility for the crimes they commit against the Palestinians. In addition, Israel should redress and compensate the Palestinians against all the damages resulting from its aggressive actions as part of its civil responsibility.” 63 However, Dr. Riyadh’s concerns are reflected in comments from Uval Shini, a professor of international law at Tel Aviv University, who believes that “Palestine’s accession to the ICC will give Israel a stronger position to raise international lawsuits against the Palestinians with respect to the violence which sets out from the Palestinian territories”. In the same vein, Silvan Shalom, Vice Prime Minister of Israel threatened to take the leaders of Hamas and other Palestinian factions to the ICC over rocketing Israel from the Gaza Strip. He stated “we shall take this step should the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sue Israel at the ICC”64. The Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz revealed that Israel’s Prime Minister together with the United States pressured the Palestinians to pledge not to apply to join the ICC in order to make sure they will not pursue Israel at the Court and to acknowledge that the recognized Palestinian state shall have no sovereignty over certain areas in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem65. The Palestinians refused categorically, and so the Israeli Prime Minister threatened to adopt the Levy report concerning legitimization of Israeli settle63 “Zionist enemy’s trial mechanisms under international criminal law”, Ash-Sha’b Al-Jadeed, April 26, 2012; http://www.elshaab.org/thread.php?ID=22236 64 http://www.karamapress.com/arabic/?action=detail&id=28969 65 http:// maannews.net/arb/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=542388 34