Palestine urges UNSC to condemn Israeli arrogant actions

Palestine late Monday urged the Security Council to condemn and take "necessary actions" to end Israeli breaches of international law that endanger the two-state solution, threatening to seek legal recourse through the International Criminal Court (ICC.) If continued unabated, these violations "will make permanent an Apartheid regime consisting of one state with two segregated legal systems further threatening international peace and security," Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour told the Security Council President, France, in a letter. He explained that Israel's Committee for Legislative Affairs approved a bill that would extend its laws to the settlements and their by-pass roads in the Jordan Valley, effectively annexing 28.5 percent of the occupied West Bank, denying the State of Palestine its sovereignty, territorial contiguity and viability. Moreover, he added, Israel announced its intention to construct an additional 1,400 settlement units throughout the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, thus derailing current US efforts to achieve comprehensive and lasting peace. These announcements highlight Israel's "arrogance and intransigence," emphasizing the need for legal recourse, including through the ICC, for the State of Palestine to protect its citizens and territory from these most serious Israeli violations of the Rome Statute. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (often referred to as the International Criminal Court Statute or the Rome Statute) is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC). It was adopted at a diplomatic conference in Rome on 17 July 1998 and it entered into force on 1 July 2002. The Rome Statute established four core international crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression.