The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has said it is taking a series of measures to begin “disengaging” from Israel, including seeking action against the latter at the United Nations and the International Criminal Court (ICC).
After a long meeting on Saturday evening, the executive committee of the PLO said it had asked the Palestinian government to,
“begin devising plans to disengage from the Israeli occupation authorities at the political, security, economic and administrative levels…”
According to the official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, the executive committee also decided to form a higher committee to implement decisions such as the suspension of the PLO’s recognition of Israel.
PLO calls for disengagement from Israel https://t.co/VDgwMALUR0
— SBS News (@SBSNews) February 4, 2018
The PLO – an umbrella of major Palestinian political parties – has been under pressure to change its strategy towards Israel in recent weeks.
Under the agreements signed between the PLO and Israel in 1993 and 1995 – known as the Oslo Accords- Israel has complete control over the Palestinian economy, civil and security matters in over 60 percent of the West Bank.
In a press release circulated after the meeting, the PLO said it had decided to request the ICC to “start a judicial inquiry into Israeli settlements, racial discrimination and the ongoing ethnic cleansing…”
PLO to demand UN Security Council recognize Palestine within 1967 borders https://t.co/z9QpnlLkBF
— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) February 4, 2018
The aim, it said, is to “hold Israeli politicians and military and security officials accountable and bring them before international justice”.
While Israel is not a party to the Rome Statute – the treaty of the ICC to which all members are bound to – its nationals could be tried by The Hague-based court for crimes committed on occupied Palestinian territory.
But until now, the ICC has not moved past the “preliminary examination” of the “situation in Palestine”.
Palestinian youth chasing Israeli colonist forces out of Burqin, Jenin pic.twitter.com/NfM6cWufBe https://t.co/xoJOnhqnUV
— Palestine Video (@PalestineVideo) February 4, 2018
In addition to vows to take Israel to the ICC, the PLO statement said Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, would be speaking at the UN Security Council on February 20 to “reiterate his commitment for a peaceful settlement with Israel”.
(Al Jazeera, PC, Social Media)
