Arab League to review Palestine statehood bid
Meeting in Cairo will examine a new UN draft resolution for the establishment of a Palestinian state and ICC membership
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was set to travel to Egypt on Wednesday for a meeting of the Arab League that will review Palestinian efforts to submit a new draft resolution to the UN that would set a timeline for an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.
Abbas was to meet with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in Cairo later in the day, Israel Radio reported.
The gathering of Arab state foreign ministers, to be held on Thursday at the league headquarters in the Egyptian capital, intends to focus on the UN resolution as well as the Palestinian application to join the International Criminal Court.
Palestinian sources said that the new UN bid would be different from a previous text that sought to impose a three-year deadline for a full Israeli withdrawal and failed to gain the necessary nine votes of approval out of 15 Security Council members.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that Palestinian moves to apply for membership at the International Criminal Court and to seek statehood unilaterally at the UN had pushed peace off the table, rendering the prospects of Palestinian statehood irrelevant for the time being.
Last month, the Palestinian leadership filed paperwork to join the ICC, a move that could open the way to suing Israeli leaders and IDF commanders for war crimes.