Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki called on the International Criminal Court on Tuesday to launch an “immediate” investigations into crimes committed by Israel against the Palestinian people. Speaking to reporters at the ICC in The Hague, Netherlands, he said he submitted the referral to the court during a meeting with the ICCs chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda. "There is a culture of impunity in Israel for crimes against Palestinians," he said. "This referral is Palestines test to the international mechanism of accountability and respect for international law." The referral sought an investigation into Israeli policies in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip since the state of Palestine accepted the ICCs jurisdiction in 2014, he said. This includes Israeli settlement policies in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, as well as the recent round of bloodshed in the Gaza Strip, where Israeli fire killed over 100 Palestinians during mass protests along the Gaza border, Malki added. The ICC has been conducting a preliminary probe since 2015 into crimes in the Palestinian territories, including Israels settlement policy and crimes allegedly committed by both sides in the 2014 Gaza conflict. Tuesdays referral could speed up a decision on whether to open a full-blown investigation that could ultimately lead to the indictment of high-ranking Israelis. It allows that probe to proceed to the next stage of a full investigation, without waiting for a judge to give approval. "Further delaying justice for Palestinian victims is also tantamount to denial of justice,” declared Malki. The move comes with Israeli-Palestinian relations at their lowest point in years in the aftermath of the US Embassy move to Jerusalem and the recent bloodshed on the Gaza border. In response to Tuesdays move at the ICC, Israel questioned the legal validity of the Palestinian request. "The purported Palestinian referral is legally invalid, and the ICC lacks jurisdiction over the Israeli-Palestinian issue, since Israel is not a member of the Court and because the Palestinian Authority is not a state," the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement, calling the move a "cynical step". It also said the ICC had no jurisdiction in the case because Israel is not a member of the court. Israel is not a member of the ICC, but its citizens can be charged by the court if they are suspected of committing crimes on the territory or against a national of a country that is a member. The ICC has recognized Palestine as a member state. While the ICC can indict suspects, it has no police force and has to rely on cooperation from member states to enforce arrest warrants. The Palestinians appear to have an especially strong case in the matter of settlements. In 2004, the United Nations highest judicial organ, the International Court of Justice, ruled in an advisory opinion that the settlements breached international law. In late 2016, the UN Security Council also declared the settlements to be illegal. Over 600,000 Israelis now live in the West Bank and east Jerusalem — territories sought by the Palestinians as parts of their future state. Israel captured both territories from Jordan in the 1967 Mideast war. Under international law it is illegal to transfer populations out of or into occupied territory. Israel claims east Jerusalem as an inseparable part of its capital — though its annexation is not international recognized.