Ambassador to UN has formally submitted documents for membership of the Hague-based International Criminal Court.
The Palestinians intend to pursue a war -crimes case against Israel for its actions in Gaza last year [AFP]
The Palestinian ambassador to the UN has formally
submitted Palestine's application to join the International Criminal
Court to the UN secretary-general.The Palestinians want to pursue war-crimes charges against Israel and challenge Israeli settlement building.
The UN confirmed receipt of the documents, and said the next steps were being reviewed. It will take a minimum of 60 days for the request to come into effect.
Speaking at the UN headquarters in New York on Friday, Riyad Mansour said pursuing the war-crimes case was an option that allowed Palestine to "seek justice for all those killed by the Israeli occupier".
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"We are honoured that we are to be the 123rd state party to join the ICC, which will become effective about 60 days from now," Mansour said.
"It is a very significant step which we will be taking. It is a legal option, it is a peaceful option, it is a civilised option and it is an option that anyone who upholds the law should not be afraid of."
When asked about the possibility of Palestinian leaders, particularly members of Hamas, being pursued for war crimes, Mansour said that the option was "political posturing".
"We are not afraid of the judgement of the law, especially international law," he said.
Settlements
Under the Rome Statute, the document signed by Abbas on Wednesday in order to join the ICC, settlement is also considered a war crime, Mansour said.
"We will be seeking justice through this stipulation in the Rome Statute, and other cases will be referred to the ICC as our leadership see fit as we move forward," he said, emphasising that only recognised states are allowed to join the ICC.
Al Jazeera's Kristen Saloomey, reporting from the UN, said there was no guarantee the cases requested by Palestine would be investigated.
"The ICC gets hundreds of requests each year and doesn't accept them all, far from it," she said.
"They are going to request jurisdiction be granted retroactively to the creation of the court in 1998. Whether or not the court will agree we don't know, this is unchartered territory.
"Only states can join the ICC, and some here do not officially recognise Palestine as a state. The US has been making the case this is going to hurt future negotiations and has described this move as counter productive.
"Palestinians stand to lose $400m in US aid by taking this step."
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli prime minister, has held an emergency meeting with his senior ministers to discuss the move. On Thursday he had urged the ICC not to accept the Palestinian's application.
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