Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has slammed the decision by the International Criminal Court to launch a preliminary investigation into possible war crimes in the Palestinian territories, saying it is absurd. Speaking in West Jerusalem yesterday, Netanyahu said it is absurd of the ICC to ignore international law and agreements under which the Palestinians do not have a state and can only get one through direct negotiations with Israel.

The rules of the ICC are clear, No state, no standing, no case. Netanyahu said Israel upholds high standards of international law and that the country's actions are subjected to careful and constant review of an independent legal system.

Palestine applied to join the ICC in December and has since signed the Rome treaty, the charter that led to the formation of the ICC in 2002. It is due to join the court in April but its membership will be backdated to June 2014, meaning that the court will have jurisdiction to look into last summer's offensive between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas.

The conflict, which left the Gaza Strip run by Hamas devastated, killed more than 2,300 Palestinians, mostly women and children. Israel says it lost 73 people, most of them soldiers.