The judges – Presiding Judge Peter Kovacs of Hungary, Judge Marc Perrin de Brichambaut of France and Judge Reine Alapini-Gansou of Benin – accepted the findings of Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s preliminary investigation from December of 2019 that there is a basis for investigating the matter further, and ruled that the court does have jurisdiction in the Palestinian territories, rejecting Israel‘s argument that it lacks such authority.