Posts
It
looks very much as if the US won’t be able to protect Israel from
being tried for war crimes any more
Palestinians
to become ICC member from April 1, UN confirms
RT,
7
January, 2015
Palestine
will join the International Criminal Court on April 1, announced UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday. The Palestinians will be
able to sue Israel for war crimes, a move the Israeli administration
has consistently opposed for decades.
The
UN treaty website says that due to the court's procedures “the
statute will enter into force for the State of Palestine on April 1,
2015.”
Along
with the ICC application, the UN chief approved other sets of
documents, enabling Palestine to join 16 international agreements,
conventions and treaties.
Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas signed the ICC application documents on the
last day of 2014, following the UN Security Council’s resolution on
December 30, which rejected Palestine’s official bid for statehood,
a document vetoed by the US in support of Israel.
The
Palestinian delegation submitted its ICC application on January 2.
Israel’s
immediate reaction was negative.
“We
will not let Israel Defence Forces (IDF) soldiers and officers be
dragged to the International Criminal Court in The Hague,” Netanyahu
said at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting, AFP reported.
Israeli Prime Minister and leader of
the ruling rightwing Likud party, Benjamin Netanyahu (AFP Photo /
Jack Guez)
The
Israeli administration immediately applied financial pressure on the
Palestinian Authority, freezing the transfer of half a billion
shekels (over $127 million) in monthly tax revenues it collected on
behalf of the Palestinians.
The
US joined the financial pressure on the Palestinian Authority on
Monday, when the Obama administration announced a review of America’s
annual $440 million aid package to the Palestinians. As AP pointed
out, once the Palestinian Authority apply any case against Israel to
the International Criminal Court, US financial help to Palestine will
cease immediately under American law.
Joining
the ICC will give the Palestinian Authority new and powerful leverage
to make Israel more compliant regarding withdrawal from the occupied
territories.
In
anticipation of the ICC bid last week, Palestinian Ambassador Riyad
Mansour announced the Palestinians will prosecute Israel for crimes
committed during the war in Gaza last summer. According to Mansour,
Palestinians will also sue Israel for constructing settlements on the
occupied Palestinian territory.
In
late 2014, the Palestine stepped up its efforts to gain international
recognition as a sovereign state. It came following the failure of
the latest round of US-brokered peace talks with Israel, which was
initiated after the bloody 50-day armed conflict in Gaza that left
some 2,120 Palestinians and 68 Israelis dead.
Unlike
before, this time around the aspirations of the Palestinians have
found much wider international support, as many countries have openly
spoken in favor of creating a sovereign Palestinian state.
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