The Palestinians have asked prosecutors at the International Criminal Court to launch a full investigation into alleged Israeli human rights abuses.
Foreign Minister Riad Malki submitted a so-called “referral”, which he said detailed evidence of crimes committed on occupied Palestinian territory.
He is hoping to persuade the ICC to move beyond a preliminary examination which prosecutors started in 2015.
Israel dismissed Mr Malki’s move as a “cynical step without legal validity”.
Mr Malki’s submission to ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda came after more than 100 Palestinians were killed and 10,000 injured by Israeli troops during six weeks of protests along the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of carrying out “massacres” of unarmed civilians. But Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted its troops acted in self-defence and blamed the militant group Hamas, which orchestrated the protests, for the deaths.
