Good political move?

War court asked to examine Gaza war

This is kinda interesting; I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing, it's just kinda interesting in a circuitous manner. As described in the article, the international court can bring charges against any citizen of a country which is a signatory to the court, and prosecute crimes which occurred within territories of the same.

Now, the facts of this case are:
- The Palestinian Authority, which claims legal authority over the Gaza strip, despite having no de-facto authority there or government presence there, has asked the court to investigate war crimes that may have occurred there by Isreali troops during the latest incursion into Gaza
- The debate currently is if they have standing to ask for an investigation; if they do, an investigation could follow
- Isreal is not a signatory to the court, so the court cannot prosecute Isreali soldiers or citizens, but if they find they have standing, then they can investigate the actions of Hamas members during the conflict, and potentially bring charges against them

So essentially, the Palestinian Authority is asking the UN International Court to prosecute Hamas members while acknowledging the PA's legal authority over Gaza, under the guise of doing something anti-Isreal. Hamas would look silly objecting to an anti-Isreal investigation, but in fact the court can only hurt Hamas. I have to wonder, though: sneaky smart political play, or gigantic circle-jerk waste of everyone's time and money?

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