‘’We will continue to uphold our strong commitment to Israel and its security, including by opposing actions that seek to target Israel unfairly,’’ the State Department said.

The United States said it ‘’firmly opposes and is deeply disappointed’’ by the decision of the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), whose term ends in June, to open an investigation into the Palestinian situation.

‘’The ICC has no jurisdiction over this matter. Israel is not a party to the ICC and has not consented to the Court’s jurisdiction, and we have serious concerns about the ICC’s attempts to exercise its jurisdiction over Israeli personnel,’’ the U.S. State Department said.

‘’The Palestinians do not qualify as a sovereign state and therefore, are not qualified to obtain membership as a state in, participate as a state in, or delegate jurisdiction to the ICC,’’ the statement added.

‘’The United States remains deeply committed to ensuring justice and accountability for international atrocity crimes. We recognize the role that international tribunals such as the ICC can play—within their respective mandates—in the pursuit of those important objectives. The ICC was established by its States Parties as a Court of limited jurisdiction. Those limits on the Court’s mandate are rooted in fundamental principles of international law and must be respected,’’ the State Department said.

The statement added that the United States ‘’believes a peaceful, secure and more prosperous future for the people of the Middle East depends on building bridges and creating new avenues for dialogue and exchange, not unilateral judicial actions that exacerbate tensions and undercut efforts to advance a negotiated two-state solution.’’

‘’We will continue to uphold our strong commitment to Israel and its security, including by opposing actions that seek to target Israel unfairly,’’ the statement concludes.