RAMALLAH, Palestine

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry on Sunday called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to speed up the opening of an investigation into Israeli crimes against the Palestinians.

A ministry statement said Israeli authorities and settlers were escalating “their attacks against the Palestinians, their property and holy sites to achieve their goal of Judaizing Jerusalem and isolating it from its Palestinian surroundings.”

“Israel is seeking to annex area C under Israeli control in the West Bank under the Oslo Accord and empty it from the Palestinian presence,” the ministry said.

It called on the international community and rights groups to take the necessary steps “to halt Israeli assaults and impose sanctions on Israel.”

On Feb. 5, the ICC ruled that it has jurisdiction regarding crimes in the occupied territories in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

*Ahmed Asmar in Ankara contributed to this report