Hamas has signed a pledge to back any Palestinian bid to join the International Criminal Court, two senior officials in the group said yesterday.
Such a step could expose Israel – as well as Hamas – to war crimes investigations.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has debated for months whether to join the court, a step which would transform his relations with Israel from tense to openly hostile and could also strain his ties with the US.
The decision by Hamas to sign a document in support of a court bid removes a major obstacle, though it is not clear if Mr Abbas now will go ahead.
He has said he would not make any decision without the written backing of all Palestinian factions. Last month, he obtained such support from all factions in the Palestine Liberation Organisation.
Hamas, which is not a PLO member, has said it would study the idea. Its decision to support the court option came after almost seven weeks of a deadly cross-border war with Israel and several failed ceasefire efforts.
Since the war erupted on July 8, more than 2,090 Palestinians have been killed, including nearly 500 children, and about 100,000 Gazans have been left homeless, according to UN figures and Palestinian officials. Israel has lost 64 soldiers and four civilians, including a four-year-old boy killed by a mortar shell on Friday.
Its decision to support the court option came after almost seven weeks
During the war, Gaza militants have fired over 3,800 rockets and mortar shells at Israel, while Israel launched about 5,000 air strikes against Gaza, the military said.
Israel has said it has targeted sites linked to militants, including rocket launchers and weapons. UN and Palestinian officials say three-quarters of those killed in Gaza have been civilians.
Yesterday, an air strike on a house in central Gaza killed two women, two children and a man, according to medics at the Red Crescent. Six strikes also hit a house in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza, causing severe damage but no injuries, Gaza police said.
Since the start of the Gaza war, Mr Abbas has come under growing domestic pressure to pave the way for a possible war crimes investigation of Israel. Last month, he told senior PLO officials and leaders of smaller political groups he would only go ahead if Hamas supports the bid.