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Comoros–Palestine relations refer to foreign relations between the Comoros and the State of Palestine.
The Comoros neither recognizes Israel nor have diplomatic ties with it.[1]
Both nations are members of the Arab League, Non-Aligned Movement and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
The Comoros recognized Palestinian statehood on 21 November 1988.[2]
In May 2013, the Comoros asked the International Criminal Court to investigate Israel for the Gaza flotilla raid on MV Mavi Marmara which was headed to Gaza killing nine.[3] [4] [5] Although Israel is not a member of the ICC, the lawyer said the Mavi Marmara was sailing under flag of the Comoros and many Turks were on board, and both these countries were signatories.[6] In 2013, Fatou Bensouda, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, opened a preliminary examination into the incident after the government of the Comoros, under whose flag the Mavi Marmara was sailing, filed a complaint over the incident.[7] In November 2014, Bensouda decided not to pursue the case, declaring that while it was possible that war crimes were committed, the possible crimes were not grave enough to fall within the scope of the court.[8] The government of the Comoros appealed the decision, and in June 2015, three judges of a Pre-Trial Chamber of the ICC ruled that the prosecutor made material errors in her assessment of the incident's gravity and requested that the investigation be reopened in a 2–1 majority. Bensouda appealed the decision in July 2015, citing the opinion of the dissenting judge and errors made by the majority, claiming that the Pre-Trial Chamber had exceeded its mandate by applying a strict and mistaken standard to review the decision, and that the interpretation of the legal standard required of her was faulty.[9] Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda refused to persecute the case again in 2019.
In 2021, Israeli media reported that the Comoros was going to establish ties with Israel supported by the United States.[10] President of the Comoros and the African Union, Azali Assoumani, opposed recognizing Israel.[11]
In June 2023, the Comoros agreed to attend the Negev Forum which includes Israel.[12] In November 2023, the Comoros joined the South African case at the International Criminal Court to investigate the situation in Gaza during the 2023 Israel-Hamas war.[13] [14] [15]