Abbas signs ICC treaty after UN rejects statehood bid
The move, which sets the stage for possibly filing a war crimes case against Israel, was one of 20 international accords Abbas signed a day after the UN vote.
The UN Security Council on Tuesday rejected a Palestinian resolution calling for an Israeli withdrawal from the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem and the establishment of a Palestinian state by the end of 2017.
Speaking Wednesday to a rally held by his Fatah movement in the West Bank, Abbas said the UN decision was not "the end of the world", while vowing that the Palestinian response "will begin tonight".
Abbas had said that, if the UN resolution failed, he would resume a campaign to join international organisations to increase the pressure on Israel.
Israel says all disputes should be resolved through peace talks and that Abbas's actions are aimed at bypassing such negotiations.
The Palestinians hope that a future ICC membership will pave the way for war crimes prosecutions against Israeli officials for their actions in the occupied territories.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted angrily to the announcement, saying it was the Palestinian side that should be held responsible for “war crimes”.
“The one who needs to fear the International Criminal Court in the Hague is the Palestinian Authority, which has a unity government with Hamas – a terror organisation like (the Islamic State group) which commits war crimes,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
The United States said it also strongly opposes the move, with State Department spokesman Edgar Vasquez warning it would be “counter-productive and do nothing to further the aspirations of the Palestinian people for a sovereign and independent state”.
“It will badly damage the atmosphere with the very people with whom they ultimately need to make peace,” Vasquez said in a statement.
Abbas has been under pressure domestically to take action against Israel following months of tensions, fueled by the collapse of US-brokered peace talks, a 50-day war between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza over the summer, a spate of deadly Palestinian attacks on Israeli targets and Israeli restrictions on Palestinian access to a key holy site in Jerusalem.
Tuesday’s defeat at the UN Security Council further raised the pressure on Abbas to act.
“We want to complain. There’s aggression against us, against our land. The Security Council disappointed us,” Abbas said in his remarks to Fatah on Wednesday.
(FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP and REUTERS)
