PA's UN observer Riyad Mansour
PA's UN observer Riyad MansourReuters

The Palestinian Authority (PA) leadership is threatening to take individual Israelis to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague.

Speaking on Tuesday to the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, the PA’s envoy to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, declared that the PA would take this action if it fails in passing its UN resolution calling for a deadline for Israel to “end the occupation”.

Mansour told the newspaper that the PA intends to submit the resolution, which will call on Israel to withdraw from Judea and Samaria by 2016, before the end of November.

He added that the PA is determined to submit the resolution to the UN Security Council, even if the United States will veto it. He also noted that the Palestinians are holding talks with representatives of the European countries in an attempt to obtain the highest possible number of votes.

According to Mansour, the Europeans believe that they can convince the U.S. to support the draft resolution, or at least prevent the veto.

In the case of a U.S. veto, he said, the PA will join other international institutions, including the International Criminal Court.

Mansour added that the Palestinian Authority would then produce legal documents that strengthen the status of the Palestinian state, and will file charges against Israelis who committed "crimes" against the Palestinian people.

The PA’s move at the UN Security Council is a unilateral one and is a violation of the Oslo Accords, but the PA has threatened to go through with it nonetheless.

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas recently threatened to cut ties with Israel if his latest unilateral move at the UN fails.

"If all efforts fail, we will end relations with Israel and I will tell Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, ‘Come and take over’. However, I will not dismantle the Palestinian Authority and I will submit a request to join all the organizations belonging to the UN," he declared.

Fatah leader Nabil Shaath recently threatened Israel with a “political war” if there is a negative response to Abbas’s steps at the United Nations.

Despite its constant threats to sue Israel at the ICC, the PA knows its number is up in the ICC.

The PA's envoy to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) admitted in a recent interview that 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.