RAMALLAH, Dec 3 — Palestinian human rights groups refused to meet the International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan yesterday, accusing him of favouring Israeli accusations of rights abuses over longstanding Palestinian charges.
Khan has been visiting Israel and the occupied West Bank following a request by a group representing families of victims of the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas , but he was also due to meet Palestinian officials in Ramallah.
However Palestinian activists said they would refuse to see him because of their objections to what they saw as unequal treatment of Israeli and Palestinian cases.
“As Palestinian human rights organisations, we decided not to meet him,” said Ammar Al-Dwaik, director general of the Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR).
“I think the way this visit has been handled shows that Mr Khan is not handling his work in an independent and professional manner,” he said.
Khan was in Israel following an invitation from families of the Israeli hostages. He was scheduled to meet lawyers for the families’ group as well as members of the families themselves.
On Saturday, he also met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. The official Palestinian news agency WAFA said Abbas had urged Karim to investigate Israeli operations in Gaza as well as the occupied West Bank. — Reuters
