The president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, signed today the necessary documents to join the International Criminal Court. It is a risky move that is nearly certain to spark reprisals from Israel and the United States, since it could theoretically result in war crimes prosecutions against Israeli officials.
Mr. Abbas is in a political bind. His popularity has tanked since the conflict this year between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, which killed over 2,000 people — about three-quarters of them civilians, according to the UN. He first tried to obtain official sovereign status for Palestine at the UN, but that failed yesterday. Hamas had sharply criticized this strategy, arguing that it was a mere stunt since the United States will certainly veto any Palestine statehood resolution that is voted through the Security Council.
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