The Palestinian National Administration will file their first criminal cases against Israel over the latter's illegal settlements and aggression as soon as the investigations are complete, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas told Sputnik in an interview.
AMMAN (Sputnik) – The Palestinian National Authority became a full-fledged member of the International Criminal Court on April 1, 2015.
"We joined the ICC on April 1, and now we're preparing our first
cases. We don't want to launch anything without a full study or
without an in-depth investigation of all of the political, legal,
diplomatic and other aspects. We are preparing two fundamental cases
in regard to Israel's settlement activity and aggression against the
Palestinian people that is an everyday occasion," Abbas said.
Abbas did not set a target date for initiating the criminal cases, but said the investigations are well underway.
"As soon as we finish the study, as soon as the documents are ready, we will launch [the cases]," Abbas added.
The move to apply for ICC membership came after the UN Security Council failed to pass a resolution on the creation of a Palestinian state. In February, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to respond to a Palestinian accession with an expensive and high-profile media campaign against the court, currently conducting a probe into allegations of war crimes committed by Israel during their military campaign in Gaza last summer.
Abbas had said earlier that Palestine intended to prosecute Israel's attacks against Palestinians, as well to seek an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.
Abbas did not set a target date for initiating the criminal cases, but said the investigations are well underway.
"As soon as we finish the study, as soon as the documents are ready, we will launch [the cases]," Abbas added.
The move to apply for ICC membership came after the UN Security Council failed to pass a resolution on the creation of a Palestinian state. In February, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to respond to a Palestinian accession with an expensive and high-profile media campaign against the court, currently conducting a probe into allegations of war crimes committed by Israel during their military campaign in Gaza last summer.
Abbas had said earlier that Palestine intended to prosecute Israel's attacks against Palestinians, as well to seek an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.
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