The Palestinians were upgraded to a non-state observer at the International Criminal Court based in The Hague.
The ICC made the move on the Palestine Liberation Organization on Dec. 8 during a summit meeting of its 122 member countries.
The Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, told the Palestinian Ma’an news agency that the move brings Palestine one step closer to becoming a full member of the court. He also said it would strengthen the case for Palestinian statehood since the ICC members consider Palestine to be a state.
Membership in the ICC, a treaty-based international court that is not part of the United Nations system, would grant Palestine the right to file war crimes charges with the court against Israel and Israeli figures.
In November 2012, the PLO was given the status of observer state at the United Nations. — jta