Bolivia to take Israel to The Hague International Criminal Court

Israel ignores international calls to end Gaza invasion.

Bolivia is seeking to take Tel Aviv to International Criminal Court over the brutal atrocities the Israeli forces have committed in Gaza.

The Andean state says it is intended to make regional allies take a unified stance against "the Israeli political and military leaders responsible for the offensive on the Gaza Strip" and make it to stand trial at the international body in the Hague, said Sacha Llorenti, whose portfolio covers civil society.

Moves to begin the legal process will begin "probably next week," Bolivia's deputy justice and human rights minister Wilfredo Chavez told journalists during the visit to Geneva, AFP reported on Friday.

Bolivia followed in the steps of its ally Venezuela and severed diplomatic ties with Israel over its massacre of the Gazans and snubbing the international calls for an 'immediate' and 'durable' truce, said the Latin American governments.

The Bolivian president Evo Morales told a group of diplomats in the administrative capital of La Paz that he will request the International Criminal Court (ICC) to file genocide charges against Israeli President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

The ICC is competent to adjudicate war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed after 2002.

Israel and its closest ally, the United States, are not among the 108 signatories of the Rome Statute creating the Hague-based court in 2000 to investigate and prosecute war crimes.

After 21 days of non-stop bombardment and aggression, the Israeli invasion of Gaza has left 1,133 Palestinians killed and more than 5,200 wounded.

Turkey: Israel must be barred from UN

Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Turkey's Prime Minister has called for Israel to be barred from the UN as long as it ignores international calls to stop war on Gaza.

"How is such a country, which does not implement resolutions of the UN Security Council, allowed to enter through the gates of the UN (headquarters)?" Recep Tayyip Erdogan inquired on Friday.

The remarks came before UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's arrival in Ankara to discuss the conflict and amid growing outrage in Turkey over Israel's attacks on Gaza.

Erdogan lashed out at the Israeli army's raids on civilians under the pretext of targeting the Palestinian fighters in the territory. He also accused the Israeli media of falsely suggesting that Hamas uses civilians as human shields in the Gaza Strip.

The UN chief, who traveled to the West Bank on Thursday, has urged an end to the 'unbearable' situation in Gaza and called on Israel for a unilateral humanitarian truce.

Last Thursday, the UN Security Council approved a resolution which demanded an "immediate" and "durable" ceasefire leading to the "full withdrawal" of Israeli forces from Gaza. It also called for "the unimpeded provision and distribution throughout Gaza of humanitarian assistance, including of food, fuel and medical treatment."

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, however, vowed to resist outside pressure and push ahead with the military action against Gaza, while Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Israel would act 'only according to its interests'.

Weeks of ceaseless Israeli airstrikes and tank shelling have so far killed more than 1,133 Palestinians across the impoverished coastal sliver, which has been under Israel's crippling blockade since June 2007.

On Friday, Turkish President Abdullah Gul renewed calls for an immediate cease-fire and urged US President-elect Barack Obama to focus on a comprehensive, long-lasting and fair solution to the issue once he is in office.

MRS/MMN