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PA plans response to Israeli aggression with ICC action

December 27, 2016 at 12:14 pm

The Palestinian Authority is planning to respond to Israel’s human rights violations, aggression and settlements by taking legal action at the International Criminal Court, Quds Net reported on Monday. The news was announced by the PA’s Chief Negotiator, Saeb Erekat.

The Fatah Revolutionary Council member and Secretary of the PLO Executive Committee said that the five permanent members of the UN Security Council had said clearly that the Israeli occupation of Palestine and its consequences are illegitimate and constitute war crimes. This was a reference to UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which the international body approved on Friday. The resolution noted that all Israeli settlement activities are illegal and that any Israeli officials who take any decision regarding more settlements could be taken to the ICC.

Read: Netanyahu fears more international measures as he accuses world of ‘spitting at us’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has – predictably – described Resolution 2334 as “shameful” and said that Israel would not abide by it. His office claimed that he is trying to contact Donald Trump’s team in order to take measures at the UN to undermine the near-unanimous decision of the Security Council members (the US abstained).

Based on this and previous UN Security Council resolutions, explained Erekat, the PA is going to call for Switzerland, the host of the Geneva Conventions, to take the measures needed to stop Israel’s crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem.

On Friday, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution demanding Israel to halt settlement building and expansion in the Palestinian territories. The resolution, which was co-sponsored by Malaysia, New Zealand, Senegal and Venezuela, was passed by a 14-0 vote after the United States abstained.

As a response to the resolution, Israel and it’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to conduct ‘revenge demolitions‘ of Palestinian homes; approved building some 5,600 housing units in East Jerusalem for illegal settlements;  cut funding to five UN institutions worth $7.8 million; threatened to directly target UNRWA with Trump’s help; and recalled it’s ambassadors from Senegal and New Zealand.