The Palestinian Authority said Thursday that it was preparing to submit a demand that the UN Security Council set a timetable for a total Israeli withdrawal from Judea, Samaria, and most of Jerusalem. According to PA spokesperson Nabil Sha'ath, the Arab League will meet on September 5 to endorse the new PA plan. The plan will be submitted to the Security Council on September 15.
Sha'ath said that the PA expected the Security Council to comply with its demands; if it does not do so, the Authority will seek help from the International Court of Justice in The Hague. There, the PA will demand that Israeli officials be charged as “war criminals” for the damage caused to Gaza, as the IDF responded to incessant rocket attacks by Hamas on Israeli civilian population centers.
It should be noted that if the PA does take its case to the Court, it will have to become a full-fledged member of that organization. While the PA has in the past sought membership in international organizations, Israeli officials said that they were unlikely to seek membership in the Court, because it would open them up to being charged with war crimes.
On Wednesday, Israel's ambassador to the UN, Ron Prosor, submitted a list of Hamas war crimes that took place during Operation Protective Edge to the UN Security Council. In a message accompanying the list, Prosor wrote that “despite the fact that the Council recognizes that Hamas has committed war crimes, nothing has been done yet about them.”
Prosor submitted a lengthy, detailed list of all the rockets fired by Hamas – their targets and the damage they caused – with nearly all of them fired at civilian targets, which in itself is a war crime, as well as many examples of Hamas using the Gaza civilian population as human shields, launching attacks from homes, schools, and hospitals. “I expect the Security Council to loudly condemn Hamas' activities. The Council cannot remain silent over the use by Hamas of Gaza civilians as human shields.”