Palestinians are preparing to send a war crimes complaint against Israel to the International Criminal Court (ICC), in connection with Israel's ongoing settlement construction. Saeb Erekat, a member of the executive committee of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), said in a statement that Palestinian officials will submit the issue of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
President Trump's December recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, followed by Monday's relocation of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, was seen by Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, as a betrayal. He reiterated Monday that he considers the U.S. unfit to continue as a Mideast peace broker and that he would not accept any peace deal that might be presented by the Trump administration. He also stated that the U.S. embassy was a "new settlement" in Jerusalem, as reported by Israeli daily Haaretz.
The Palestinians have had standing at the court since the U.N. General Assembly recognized a "state of Palestine" as a non-member observer in 2012. The foreign minister of the Palestinian Authority Riad Malki said Palestine would also join three international organizations, going against a long-standing U.S. request to avoid this.
