RAMALLAH, May 28 (Xinhua) -- A senior Palestinian official said on Thursday that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has asked Palestine for a legal explanation over its earlier decision to end all agreements reached with Israel.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki told the official Voice of Palestine radio that the Palestinian Authority will send the ICC its response by June 10.

Three judges from the ICC have been authorized to check to what extent the ICC's mandate is applicable to probing crimes committed by Israel in the Palestinian territories, according to al-Maliki.

"I don't think the Palestinian decision to end all agreements reached with Israel would change the ICC's legal mandate or Palestine's commitments toward the international treaties," he noted.

Last week, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas decided to end all agreements reached with Israel and the United States, including security and coordination understandings.

The Palestinian decision was made in response to Israel's announcement of a plan to annex the Jordan Valley and impose sovereignty on Jewish settlements in the West Bank starting July.

Fatou Bensouda, chief prosecutor of the ICC, reaffimed her position that Palestine is a state for the purposes of transferring criminal jurisdiction over its territory to The Hague.

Her view, laid out in detail in a 60-page document last month, could set the stage for an investigation of alleged war crimes committed by Israel in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. Enditem

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