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A Palestinian boy collects copies of the Koran
from the remains of a mosque, which witnesses said was hit by an Israeli air
strike, in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip August 25, 2014. (Reuters /
Mohammed Salem)
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Palestine
will ask the UN Security Council to set a “timetable” for Israel's withdrawal
from the occupied territories, a senior official said. If the request is
denied, Palestine will take senior Israeli officials to the ICC over the
killing of thousands.
The Palestinian leadership is going to
submit the application to the UN Security Council on September 15, Ma'an News
Agency reported, citing senior Fatah official Nabil Shaath.
The
document will demand a "timetable"
for Israel’s withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territories.
In
addition there will be a meeting of the Arab League on September 5 ahead of
sending the application to the UN, to discuss how to support the proposal.
If
Palestine’s initiative is denied at the UN, it is going to take senior Israeli
officials such as Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon to
the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague, over Israel’s assault on
Gaza, which left over 2,000 Palestinians dead.
The
ICC is an international tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes
against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. It is an independent
organization, and is not part of the UN system.
"Taking the case to
the ICC is conditional upon the Security Council response to our request," Shaath said.
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Palestinians drink coffee outside a damaged
house as they look at the remains of a tower building housing offices, which
witnesses said was destroyed by an Israeli air strike, in Gaza City August 26,
2014.(Reuters / Mohammed Salem)
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Palestinian
authorities will also form a permanent unity government with Hamas to ease the
reconstruction of Gaza Strip, he said.
Israel
accepted the long-term truce without the demilitarization of Hamas following
pressure from the US, Shaath is cited as saying, adding that Israeli
authorities were afraid of losing their allies, due to the ongoing unrest in
the region.
On
Monday, after Israel and Palestine agreed on the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, a
senior Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official Wasel Abu Yousef told
AFP that the Palestinian leadership is preparing “to go to the UN Security Council to enforce an end to the
[Israeli] occupation.”
Abu
Yousef said that their application to the UN Security Council would likely be
vetoed by the US, which usually opposed any anti-Israeli step.
“If
the US uses a veto, then we still have the ICC card,”
he added.
Monday’s ceasefire marked
the 50th day since Israel started its campaign in Gaza on July 8. The death
toll from the Gaza conflict has reached 2,120 people, of which 577 are
children, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. 
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