The Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) on Sunday asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to start investigating Israel’s settlement activities in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem Wafa News Agency reported.
According to a statement issued at the conclusion of a meeting in Ramallah PLO’s Executive Committee charged Israel of ethnic cleansing and racial segregation which it said amount to war crimes that should be investigated by the ICC.
The PLO said Israel’s settlement expansion which it described as an aggression is creating “a system of discrimination and racial segregation.”
The committee added that international law and resolutions relevant to the Palestinian cause remain the only base for a comprehensive and balanced political compromise that will provide security and stability in the region and protect the rights of the Palestinian refugees.
The committee lauded the efforts made by Cairo to prop up national unity and hailed Hamas decision to disband the administrative committee and to allow the Ramallah-based government to take up its duties in the enclave.
PLO’s Executive Committee called on the Palestinian Authority to immediately start its mission in the blockaded Gaza Strip.