International war crimes prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo says his court lacks jurisdiction to investigate possible Israeli war crimes crimes in Gaza. The call by a Palestian human rights organisations to investigate Israeli activities in the Gaza Strip will not lead to any action by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The ICC prosecutor is unable to open investigations into supposed Israeli war crimes during the 19-day-old conflict in Gaza. Luis Moreno Ocampo said on Wednesday that the court's jurisdiction is restricted to war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed on the territory of, or by a national of, a state party to the court.

"In Gaza at present, the ICC lacks such jurisdiction. The ICC can investigate Israel's war crimes only if Tel Aviv voluntarily accepted the court's jurisdiction, or if it is referred to the court by the United Nations Security Council."

Israel has been accused by several humanitarian and human rights organisations of actions in its offensive in Gaza which the court could classify as war crimes. But because Israel has signed but never ratified the ICC's statute and the Gaza Strip is not considered a 'nation' by the court, the actions of Israeli citizens, would not fall under it's jurisdiction.

The prosecutor's announcement came after a Palestinian rights group, the International Coalition against Impunity (ICI), called on the ICC to look into the "death and injury of hundreds of Palestinians, including women and children". The Rights Group wanted the ICC to bring to court Israeli and US leaders for war crimes.

Presently, only the Security Council is in a position to refer the situation to the court. But with the US, an ally to Israel, as a permanent member such a decision is very unlikely.

The International Court of Justice
The UN general assembly, which is meeting this week to discuss the issue, will consider requesting an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ), another court in The Hague. The ICJ has two functions: to settle disputes between states and to give advisory opinions on legal questions. Advisory opinions are not binding but benefit from the authority and prestige of the Court.

Israel is likely to vigorously contest such an opinion by the ICJ after it put aside its finding in a previous case, which found the wall being constructed in the Palestinian territories to be a violation of Israel's obligations under international humanitarian law.