“Interfering with the delivery of aid, as provided for in the Geneva Conventions, can be considered a crime under the jurisdiction of the court,” Khan told reporters in Cairo.
He made the announcement after visiting the Rafah border crossing in Egypt, where, according to Khan, trucks carrying much-needed goods were stuck and unable to enter the Gaza Strip.
“I saw trucks with cargo and humanitarian aid stuck where nobody needed them, stuck in Egypt, stuck in Rafah,” he said.
“These supplies must reach the civilian population of Gaza immediately,” the prosecutor added.
The Rafah crossing is the only entry point through which international humanitarian aid can currently enter the Palestinian enclave controlled by the Hamas militant group, which is almost surrounded and under constant attack by Israel.
On October 7, the Palestinian militant group Hamas crossed the Gaza border and launched the deadliest attack in Israeli history, killing 1,400, according to Jewish state officials. people, mostly civilians, and another 230 were kidnapped.
Israel responded by relentless bombardment of the Gaza Strip, killing more than 8,000 people. people, half of them children, according to the Ministry of Health of the territory controlled by Hamas.
A total of 117 trucks have entered the Gaza Strip since October 21, when limited aid flows resumed through the Rafah checkpoint.
Before the beginning of the siege, about 500 trucks carrying humanitarian aid and other supplies entered the Gaza Strip every day.
Mr Khan said he wanted to “make clear to Israel that there is an immediate need to make clear efforts to ensure that the civilian population (in Gaza) receives the most essential food and medicine”.
The United Nations warned on Sunday that there were fears of a public disturbance after food aid centers run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) were looted in the Gaza Strip.
On Sunday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the situation in the Palestinian enclave was becoming more desperate by the hour, with casualties mounting and essential supplies dwindling.
Khan noted that the ICC is currently investigating “all crimes committed in Palestinian territory and all crimes, whether Israeli-Palestinian crimes or acts committed in Palestinian territory or from Palestine to Israel.”
“This includes both current events in the Gaza Strip and current events in the West Bank,” he said.
K. Khan also noted that it is alarming that reports of settler attacks on Palestinian civilians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank since 1967 have increased.
He emphasized that the Israeli hostage-taking by Hamas is a violation of the Geneva Convention.
“I call for the immediate release of all hostages taken in Israel and their safe return to their families,” the prosecutor said.
Khan said that Israel must abide by both the moral and legal laws of conflict in this war.
“These principles apply equally to Hamas when it fires rockets at Israel indiscriminately,” he said.
Established in 2002, the ICC is the only independent global tribunal to investigate the world’s most serious crimes, including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity
In 2015, the Palestinians acceded to the court’s founding Rome Statute.
Israel, which is not a party to the ICC, has refused to cooperate with the investigation and has not recognized its jurisdiction.
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