Palestine will officially become a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on April 1, where it plans to go after Israel for alleged war crimes, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon confirmed to the Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.
The ICC, located at The Hague in the Netherlands, said late Monday that it had received documents from the Palestinians indicating that they plan to pursue at least two separate war crimes charges against Israel.
When Palestine's membership becomes active in April, ICC rules will provide the court the legal authority to pursue war crimes charges against anyone who committed crimes on Palestinian territory, reported Reuters.
Even though Israel and the United States both aren't parties to the Rome Statute, their citizens could be tried for crimes committed on Palestinian land.
The United States State Department responded Wednesday, saying that because Palestine is not a sovereign state, it does not technically qualify for membership to the ICC, reported Reuters.
"It doesn't qualify to join the ICC," said State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki in a daily briefing.
The Palestinians applied to join the ICC on Friday, and in response, Israel froze the transfer of tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority.
Republican Sen. Rand Paul introduced a bill on Wednesday that would stall all U.S. aid to the Palestinians until they discontinue their effort to join the ICC in pursuit of war crimes charges against Israel, The Associated Press reported.
The Palestinians have long sought their own state in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which have been in Israel's control since the 1967 Middle East War.
On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to remove any illegal Israeli settlements from the West Bank.
"I don't see such a move as being practical at this point. Since I'm in charge it won't happen," he said to Israel's Channel 2, reported Haaretz.
The 100 settlements house nearly 400,000 and are considered violations of international law by the U.N., and are one of the largest hurdles to peace between Palestine and Israel.
"The Palestinians have emptied (calls for statehood) of any relevance," Netanyahu stated, insisting that he was open to Palestinian statehood.
"Instead of negotiating they are going to the International (Criminal) Court (ICC) in The Hague, charging (Israeli Defense Force) soldiers with war crimes."
