Excellent news from the UN last night.
UN Chief Ban Ki-Moon Says Palestine Will Join International Court on April 1
UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said late Tuesday that the state of Palestine will join the International Criminal Court on April 1, a high-stakes move that will enable the Palestinians to pursue war-crimes charges against Israel.
The Palestinians submitted the documents ratifying the Rome Statute that established the court last Friday, the last formal step to accepting the jurisdiction of the world's permanent war crimes tribunal. The UN said the secretary-general would review the paperwork.
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The secretary-general also approved Palestinian documents joining 16 other international treaties, conventions and agreements on Tuesday night.
Israeli and US threats did not stop Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN ambassador, to submit the final documents ratifying the Rome Statute last week.
The Palestinian decision to join the ICC has already sparked retaliation from Israel which froze the transfer of more than $100 million in tax funds collected for the Palestinians on Saturday. It promised tougher action on Sunday.
The United States also opposed the move, calling it an obstacle to reaching a permanent peace agreement that would give the Palestinians an independent state. The Obama administration said Monday it was reviewing its annual $440 million aid package to the Palestinians because of the decision to join the ICC.
Expect retaliatory actions from Israel in due course.