Today they are home to at least five million Palestinians defined by the United Nations as living under Israeli occupation. The Gaza Strip is blockade by Israel and ruled by the Islamist Hamas group.

Palestinian prime minister Mohammed Shtayyeh praised the ICC ruling as “a victory for justice and humanity, for the values of truth, fairness and freedom, and for the blood of the victims and their families”.

The Islamist movement Hamas, which rules Gaza and has fought three wars against Israel, said “the most important step… is to bring the Zionist criminals of war before international courts and hold them responsible”.

But Netanyahu cried foul against any bid by the ICC to investigate “fake war crimes”.

“The court, established to prevent atrocities like the Nazi Holocaust against the Jewish people, is now targeting the one state of the Jewish people,” he said.

“First, it outrageously claims that when Jews live in our homeland, this is a war crime.

“Second, it claims that when democratic Israel defends itself against terrorists who murder our children and rocket our cities, we are committing another war crime,” he added.

He said the ICC should be investigating “brutal dictatorships like Iran and Syria who commit horrific atrocities almost daily”.

The US State Department said it has “serious concerns” about the ICC ruling, adding that Israel should not be bound by the court as it was not a member.