Hungary disagrees with the International Criminal Court’s ruling passed last Friday which found that the court has jurisdiction over Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said.
Szijjártó said on Facebook that he had consulted about the issue with his Israeli counterpart Gabi Ashkenazi over the phone. He added that the Hungarian government had already indicated during the procedure that it believed Palestine had no jurisdiction to prosecute Israeli citizens. “We have always supported Israel’s right to self-defence and believe that peace in the region can only result from talks based on mutual respect,” Szijjártó said, adding that “the International Criminal Court’s ruling does not bring the sides closer to this”. The Hague-based ICC Pre-Trial Chamber decided last Friday that the court’s territorial jurisdiction extends to the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
MTI
