PALESTINIANS faced a slew of retaliatory measures from Israel yesterday after the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced that it would investigate alleged Israeli war crimes.

After Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed the ICC treaty in December 2014, Israel announced a freeze on tax revenue it collects on the Palestinians’ behalf, affecting the pay of some 160,000 Palestinian Authority civil servants.

Israel said yesterday that it would lobby ICC member states to defund the court after prosecutors launched a preliminary inquiry into war crimes. 

“We will demand our friends in Canada, Australia and Germany stop funding it,” threatened Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. “This body represents no-one.”

The inquiry by ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda could potentially lead to charges being filed against Israelis.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel would fight the ICC prosecutor’s decision to launch an initial inquiry, which he dubbed “the height of hypocrisy and the opposite of justice.”