Palestinians threaten to sue Israel over settlements

[indian_foxhound]

The Palestinians have said settlement building
must cease before peace talks can resume
The Palestinians have threatened to pursue
Israel at the International Criminal Court (ICC) if
it builds new Jewish settlements east of
Jerusalem. Speaking at the UN Security Council, Palestinian
Foreign Minister Riad Malki said the decision
depended on the new Israeli government. The Palestinians became eligible to join the ICC
after the UN voted to upgrade their status last
November. Israel has announced plans to build 1,500 more
homes in East Jerusalem. The controversial project was revived as part of
Israel's response to the UN General Assembly's
decision to grant the Palestinians the status of
non-member observer state. 'No other choice' Mr Malki's speech on Wednesday was the first
Palestinian address to the Security Council since
its status upgrade. The Palestinian minister spoke Israeli plans to
construct housing in an area known as E1, which
cuts deep into the West Bank, the BBC's Barbara
Plett reports from the UN. Bringing Jewish settlers into this zone would be
crossing a red line, Mr al Malki said, forcing the
Palestinians to complain to the ICC. "If Israel would like to go further by
implementing the E1 plan and the other related
plans around Jerusalem, then yes, we would be
going to the International Criminal Court," he told
the UN Security Council. "We would have no other choice. It depends on
the Israeli decision. Israel knows very well our
position." Palestinian officials have previously suggested
that bringing their disputes with Israel to the ICC
was an option, but this appears to be an
unusually direct threat, our correspondent says. Mr Malki made his address while seated behind a
name plate that read 'State of Palestine'. US ambassador Susan Rice emphasised that UN
references to the State of Palestine, such as the
title on the Security Council name plate, was not
"bestowing Palestinian 'statehood' or
recognition". "Only direct negotiations to settle final status
issues will lead to this outcome," Ms Rice said. Meanwhile the UN Middle East envoy Robert Serry
told the Security Council that Jewish settlements
were contrary to international law and
increasingly an obstacle to peace, our
correspondent says. But he also warned the Palestinians against
taking any steps in international forums that
would make a return to peace talks more difficult. The last round of direct talks between Israel and
the Palestinians broke down in late 2010
following a dispute over settlement construction
in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. About 500,000 Jews live in more than 100
settlements built since the 1967 occupation of the
West Bank and East Jerusalem. The settlements
are considered illegal under international law,
although Israel disputes this.