Ramallah, October 4 (RHC), -- Palestinians will start proceedings to pursue war crime charges against Israel, if the United Nations Security Council fails to approve a deadline for the Israeli pull out from the West Bank, a Palestinian official said.
The Palestinian UN ambassador, Riyad Mansour, said in an interview with The Associated Press that the Palestinian government has asked the Security Council "to force Israel to negotiate in good faith the end of occupation within a time frame."
He added that Palestinians expect the Council to adopt a draft resolution that leads to the pullout of the Israelis from the occupied Palestinian territories by November 2016. The United States is reportedly most likely to oppose the move with its veto.
The Palestinian UN ambassador warned that if the Council fails to accomplish this goal, the Palestinian government will join the International Criminal Court (ICC) to pave the way for the Palestinians to sue senior Israeli officials for war crimes against Palestinian people.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Wednesday that the U.S. has exerted heavy pressure on Palestinians to abandon plans to seek a UN resolution against Israel. Abbas, however, warned that he would take measures to join the ICC if the U.S. vetoed the motion.