UN Security Council
UN Security CouncilReuters

The Palestinian Authority (PA) "unity government" intends to seek a UN Security Council resolution setting a three-year deadline for forcing Israel to withdraw from Judea and Samaria, a Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official said Tuesday.

Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the leadership of the PLO [the terror group behind the PA - ed.], acknowledged at a news conference that the United States would veto such a resolution.

Nevertheless, she told reporters, "We will be seeking a Security Council resolution on ending the occupation on a specific date."

"We should know that the occupation will end within three years," she added.

She raised the possibility of also seeking passage of a similar but non-binding resolution by the UN General Assembly.

Wasel Abu Yusef, a senior PLO official, said last week that the organization was working to convene an international conference to set a
timetable for Israel's withdrawal from Judea and Samaria; similar reports surfaced earlier Tuesday, this time claiming chief negotiator Saeb Erekat would present the timetable to the US. 

But as yet, no Palestinian official has said when a formal proposal will be made to the Security Council.

Many have noted that the recent escalation in Hamas's terror war against Israel from Gaza is a prologue to what can be expected from Judea and Samaria if Israel would vacate the region.

Adding irrefutable support to this appraisal is the fact that Hamas recently attempted a coup against the PA in Judea and Samaria, which the IDF and Israel Security Agency (ISA) foiled.

'No timeframe' for ICC moves

Ashrawi once again also brandished a threat to take Israel before the International Criminal Court (ICC) over its 50-day self-defense operation in Hamas-ruled Gaza. But she did not say when it might do so. The Palestinians were granted observer status at the court in 2012, giving them access to the court.

"We are intending to take Israel to the ICC. We do not have a timeframe, we have a program of action," she said. 

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas threatened to take Israel to the International Criminal Court (ICC) last month if it did not present a plan for withdrawing to 1949 Armistice lines by the end of the year.

The US strongly condemned the move, saying "it will badly damage the atmosphere with the very people with whom they ultimately need to make peace."

In addition, the PA's threats - while endless - may lack legal actualization. In a recent interview, the PA's envoy to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) admitted the PA has no hope of pressing charges against Israel in international courts - because Palestinian terrorist groups are far worse violators of international law themselves.

Noting concerns that Israel could launch legal offensives of its own against the PA should it sign up to the ICC, the presenter asked whether such a move would be realistic. The response was unequivocal.

"The missiles that are now being launched against Israel - each and every missile constitutes a crime against humanity, whether it hits or misses, because it is directed at civilian targets," he said.

Shurat Hadin, a non-governmental organization that operates against terrorists through the courts, has warned it would lodge 'a tsunami' of criminal complaints against senior PA officials, should the PA go through with its application to join the ICC.