Abbas Confidant: PA To Bring ‘Hundreds Of Israeli Soldiers To International Criminal Court’

TEL AVIV – The Palestinian Authority is gathering details on hundreds of Israeli soldiers in order to bring them before the International Criminal Court, a prominent Palestinian journalist and confidant of PA President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday.

“In 2017, we are going to the Hague,” said Nasser Laham, according to Channel 2. “We have hundreds of pages of names of IDF officers. Every pilot and every officer and every soldier — we have his photo, we have his name, and we are waiting for him at the Hague.”

“If we are successful with one, just one, it will be a different world,” the editor of the Palestinian Ma’an news agency was quoted as saying.

Laham also urged the Palestinians to give up violence and “don’t explode.” Instead, “in suits and ties we will take the Israelis to the Hague, we will handcuff them,” he said.

“This is a war without bullets. Just wait, give us another chance,” he added.

The ICC is an independent judicial body that investigates genocide and war crimes. Since the 50-day conflict between Gaza-based terror group Hamas and Israel in 2014, the Palestinians have attempted to prosecute Israel at the Hague-based court. In 2015, the Palestinian leadership requested that the court investigate alleged Israeli war crimes.

Israel and the U.S. have not ratified the Rome Statute and therefore cannot be investigated by the ICC, unless referred by the UN Security Council.

Laham’s remarks came on the heels of praise from Hamas regarding the anti-settlement resolution passed at the UNSC on Friday.

Speaking in Istanbul, Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal said the “UNSC resolution gave the world a signal about the danger of settlements that threaten our land.”

Mashaal continued by thanking “everyone who condemned Israeli settlements,” but added the resolution is “not enough.”

Mashaal also said Hamas is gearing up for a fresh round of violence with Israel.

“The resistance in Gaza is smuggling weapons and digging tunnels in Gaza to prepare for a confrontation with [Israel], which will taste its woes on the edge of the Gaza Strip,” he said.