(MENAFN- QNA) Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed a declaration Thursday asking the International Criminal Court to investigate suspicions of war crimes "committed in Palestine" since June 13, said a nongovernmental Palestinian source who for years has taken part in Palestinian plans to join the court.
Palestinian government officials have not yet confirmed the source’s comments, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he expects any ICC bid to fail, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.
The declaration was enabled after Abbas signed the Rome Statute on Wednesday night and requested that the Palestinians join the ICC. The following morning PA chief negotiator Saeb Erekat delivered the request, along with 19 letters of accession signed by Abbas, to the United Nations’ main office in Jerusalem. On Friday they will be received by the UN secretary-general in New York.