The United States has joined Israel in condemning the International Criminal Court decision to open a preliminary probe into possible war crimes committed against Palestinians, blasting it as a "tragic irony".
ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said her office would conduct an "analysis in full independence and impartiality" into alleged war crimes by Israel, including those committed during last year's Gaza offensive.
Her decision comes after Palestine formally joined the ICC earlier this month, allowing it to lodge war crimes and crimes against humanity complaints against Israel as of April.
Nearly 2200 Palestinians and 73 Israelis were killed during the 2014 war in Gaza.
The US criticised the decision late on Friday, saying it opposed actions against Israel at the ICC as "counterproductive to the cause of peace".
"It is a tragic irony that Israel, which has withstood thousands of terrorist rockets fired at its civilians and its neighbourhoods, is now being scrutinised by the ICC," US State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said in a statement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier reacted angrily to the prosecutor's decision, calling it "scandalous" and "absurd" since "the Palestinian Authority cooperates with Hamas, a terror group that commits war crimes, in contrast to Israel that fights terror while maintaining international law, and has an independent justice system."
Gambian-born Bensouda had earlier stressed that "a preliminary examination is not an investigation but a process of examining the information available... on whether there is a reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation."
Bensouda will decide at a later stage whether to launch a full investigation.
Israel began a massive crackdown on the West Bank on June 13 after the kidnapping and subsequent murder of three Israeli teenagers, triggering a series of events that led to the seven-week Gaza war.
Palestine's move to join the ICC is also seen as part of a shift in strategy to internationalise its campaign for statehood and move away from the stalled US-led peace process.
The Palestinians were upgraded from observer status to UN "observer state" in 2012, opening the doors for them to join the ICC and a host of other international organisations.
Rights group Amnesty International welcomed the ICC's announcement saying it "could pave the way for thousands of victims of crimes under international law to gain access to justice."
But the initial probe could lead to an investigation into crimes "committed by all sides", Amnesty stressed in a statement.
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