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Palestine says may have no choice but to take Israel to ICC
Louis Charbonneau
Ma`an News Agency
24.1.2013

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=558894


UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -- The Palestinian Authority foreign minister declared Wednesday that Palestine will have no choice but to complain to the International Criminal Court if Israel proceeds with settlement expansion plans in the occupied West Bank.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the UN Security Council on the Middle East, Riad al-Malki said his government`s decision will largely depend on what the Israelis do with the so-called `E1` area outside the Palestinian suburbs of East Jerusalem.

`If Israel would like to go further by implementing the E1 (settlement) plan and the other related plans around Jerusalem then yes, we will be going to the ICC,` he said. `We have no other choice. It depends on the Israeli decision.`

The Palestinian Authority has previously suggested that bringing its various disputes with Israel to the Hague-based court was an option, but al-Malki`s remarks on Wednesday were the most direct threat his government has made against Tel Aviv to date.

The International Criminal Court prosecutes charges of genocide, war crimes and other major human rights violations. Palestine must first apply to join the court, and once a member it could refer Israel for investigation.

Palestine became eligible to join the ICC after the U.N. General Assembly upgraded its status at the world body in November from `observer entity` to `non-member state.`

After the Nov. 29 vote -- on the 65th anniversary of the adoption of UN resolution 181 that partitioned Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states -- Israel announced it would build 3,000 more settler homes in East Jerusalem.

E1 covers some 12 square km and is considered particularly important because it not only juts into the narrow `waist` of the West Bank, but also backs onto East Jerusalem, where Palestinians want to establish their capital.

Approximately 500,000 Israelis and 2.5 million Palestinians live in the West Bank including East Jerusalem. The United Nations deems all Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be illegal.

`State of Palestine`

U.N. Special Coordinator of the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry told the 15-nation Security Council settlements were contrary to international law and `increasingly an obstacle to peace.` But he also warned Palestine against pursuing international action.

The council meeting on the Middle East represented its first public debate on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since the Palestinian UN status upgrade. Al-Malki and a number of council members referred to the `State of Palestine` in their speeches.

The words `State of Palestine` were also emblazoned on the name plate for the Palestinian delegation.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice made clear to the council that such public references to the `State of Palestine` do not make it a sovereign state.

`Any reference to the `State of Palestine` in the United Nations, including the use of the term `State of Palestine` on the placard in the Security Council or the use of the term `State of Palestine` in the invitation ... do not reflect acquiescence that `Palestine` is a state,` she said.

The United States, Israel and seven other members of the 193-nation General Assembly voted against the Palestinian UN status upgrade in November.

The White House on Wednesday renewed its call for a resumption of long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations in the wake of Israeli elections in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emerged the winner but with a weaker-than-expected showing for his right-wing bloc.
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