A bid for investigation into the Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip has been denied by the International Criminal Court, a move that has drawn sharp criticism from human rights groups and praise from Israel. 

“I need Palestine recognized as a state because I am not the prosecutor of the world; I am the prosecutor of the countries who accept my jurisdiction. I need a country accepting me and then I investigate the crimes,” prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo told Al Arabiya on Monday.

He also said that the investigate will go ahead only if the UN or its Security Council recognizes Palestine as a state. 

In winter of 2008, Israeli forces entered Gaza for ‘Operation Cast Lead’ which resulted in 1,417 deaths on the Palestinian side. Israel’s stated goal was to stop rocket fire into Israel from Hamas. 

Israel is accused of using illegal white phosphorus weapons and using excessive force by rights groups among other accusations. 

Rights groups rounded on the decision, a spokesperson from Amnesty International branding the move as“dangerous” and “inconsistent with the independence of the ICC.”

“It also breaches the Rome Statute, which clearly states that such matters should be considered by the institution’s judges,” said Marek Marczyñski, head of Amnesty International’s International Justice Campaign on Tuesday to RT. The Rome Statute is the ICC’s founding treaty and allows states not party to the statute to accept the Court’s jurisdiction.

The Palestinian Authority in 2009 officially accepted the purview of the International Court, but the country’s lack of recognition as a state still remains the stumbling block impeding the investigation.

Israel is not subject to the Rome Statute and consequently denies the ICC’s has any jurisdiction in Gaza.

In total, over 130 governments have supported Palestine’s status as an independent state, but the General Assembly still classifies the Palestine Liberation Organization as an observer state, as opposed to a non-member state.

The Security Council has yet to reach a decision as to whether it will welcome Palestine as a member state after the membership application was filed in September of last year.