'No more waiting': Palestine to set date for joining ICC, other intl bodies

© AFP Photo / Kena Betancur

Palestine is planning its next steps after the UN Security Council failed to adopt the Arab coalition's bid for the creation of a Palestinian state and an end to Israeli "occupation," officials said.

The Palestinian Authority could also schedule a date for applying to join the International Criminal Court and other international agencies, negotiator Saeb Erekat said, adding that officials would hold a very serious meeting on Wednesday.

"There will be no more waiting, no more hesitation, no more slowdown," Erekat said. "We are going to meet and make decisions."

Fatah's Central Committee and the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) will decide whether to sign the Rome Statute by the ICC, a senior Palestinian source told the Times of Israel.

Abbas Zaki from Fatah Central Committee said that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas could sign the Rome Statute as early as tonight.

© Reuters / Siphiwe Sibeko

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The Rome Statute is the ICC's founding document. If Palestine were to become party to it, the International Court would have a free hand in assessing all alleged war crimes committed on Palestinian territory.

Although it should be noted that Israel isn't a member itself, and only its own membership, in addition to Palestine being a signatory, could open it up to ICC investigations.

"It is thus most regrettable that the Security Council remains paralyzed," Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations Riyad Mansour said, but Palestine "must now consider its next steps."

According to Mansour, at UN Security Council it was time to end the "abhorrent Israeli occupation and impunity that has brought our people so much suffering."

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The draft resolution on Palestinian statehood gathered only eight votes in favor, so it was automatically defeated. The US still used its veto power and voted against the resolution. Another veto power state, the UK, along with Lithuania, Nigeria, Korea and Rwanda, abstained from the vote.

The eight votes in favor included France, Russia and China.

The resolution gave 12 months for a to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which it regards as the creation of a Palestinian state based on 1967 borders, as well as the withdrawal of all Israeli forces from the occupied territory by 2017.

In 2012, the UN General Assembly upgraded Palestine from an to a

Palestinian authorities said that if resolution wasn't passed by UN, they will ask for applying to join international organizations as Palestinian people say they are willing to seek justice for crimes against humanity as well as the war crimes being perpetrated against them by Israel.

Abbas said on Tuesday his administration would with Israel if the resolution were to fail.

he said.

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Israeli authorities said they are "satisfied" with the failure of the Palestinian statehood bid at UN Security Council.

"Every Israeli who wants peace with our neighbors can only be satisfied with the results of this vote," Deputy Foreign Minister Tzahi HaNegbi told public radio.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said that Moscow regrets that the resolution on Palestinian statehood bid wasn't approved "amid serious deterioration in crisis settlement in the Middle East."

Russia says the Israelis and Palestinians should not let the crisis worsen and should restart the peace process.