Following demolition at Wadi al-Hummus, PA and PLO complained to UNSC, EU; US said to have blocked condemnation draft from Security Council; Erekat: The PLO announces the ending of cooperation with Israeli courts and calls on the International Court of Justice to immediately launch an investigation against Israel.
The Palestinian Authority was due to meet on Thursday to discuss Israel’s recent demolition of Palestinian homes, announcing it had already met with EU and UN officials to complain formally. It submitted a complaint to the UN Security Council mid-week, reports Thursday claiming the United States blocked a draft condemning the demolitions.
Israel demolished 12 Palestinians homes in Wadi al-Hummus outside of Jerusalem as the homes were illegally built too close to Israel’s border fence, a threat to Israel’s security. The demolition was sanctioned by Israel’s High Court of Justice.
A spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas cited Israel’s holding of tax revenues, settlements and the recent demolitions as its reasons for meeting with international institutions. The Security General of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Saeb Erekat announced on Wednesday that it was ending its “cooperation with Israeli courts and calls on the International Court of Justice to immediately launch an investigation against Israel.”
The Palestinian Authority pays the families of terrorists for attacks and murder of Israeli citizens. Referred to as the “Palestinian Authority Martyrs Fund,” monthly stipends are given to the families of terrorists. The fund includes resources for incarcerated Palestinian terrorists and their families, as well as funds for the families of terrorists who were killed by Israeli security forces. To combat this, Israel essentially makes up for those funds by holding a percentage of the PA’s tax revenues. As a result, the PA now refuses to accept the tax revenues in their entirety, increasing the dire economic challenges in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
