Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has threatened to lodge a complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands, over Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank if Jerusalem goes ahead with its plan to build new settler homes in a sensitive area near the Israeli capital. "If Israel continues with this, we will respond using all methods, obviously peaceful, and including the court," the Palestinian Authority president said in Ankara at a joint press conference with Turkish President Abdullah Gül.
Israeli plans for the construction of 3,000 new homes, some of them in a strip of West Bank land called E1, have sparked a major diplomatic backlash. "The latest announcement of the Israeli government about building new settler neighborhoods on lands belonging to the Palestinian state in the areas surrounding Jerusalem is hostile and (crosses) a red line," Abbas was quoted by the French news agency AFP as saying. "We will not allow its execution as it is a violation of international treaties, especially the Fourth Geneva Convention," he added, referring to a clause that bars an occupying power from transferring parts of its own population into the territory it occupies. "If they chose peace they will find us ready, but if they chose settlements, especially building in E1, we will do something else."
Israel considers the West Bank “disputed territory” and maintains that any final settlement on borders needs to be agreed in bilateral negotiations.
The Palestinians' new status at the United Nations could potentially give them access to the ICC, which has sparked fears they could sue Israel for alleged war crimes. Gül also "strongly condemned" the Israeli construction plans for E1.
Abbas has previously said he had no plans to immediately approach the ICC, which would only be possible after the Palestinians sign and ratify the Rome Statute. Israel, Turkey and the United States are among the countries that do not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC and have not ratified the Rome Statute.
