PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas speaks at United Nations in New York
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas speaks at United Nations in New YorkReuters

After a few months of quiet, the Palestinians are preparing to renew their international campaign against Israel, Israel Hayom reported Friday.

Now that the Palestinians have joined the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, they can be expected to reach out to international organizations and demand that they condemn Israel, or even seek to have Israel suspended from international organizations and institutions.

The Palestinians' claim is a familiar one – they are alleging that Israel is an occupying entity in land belonging to the Palestinian Authority and is acting in violation of international law. They claim that Israel confiscates privately owned Palestinian land to expand settlements; restricts freedom of movement for the Palestinian population in Judea and Samaria; prevents access to potable water and water for agricultural purposes; does not allow Palestinians to work farmland that they own; and regularly violates Palestinians' civil rights.

The PA has already begun to take steps against various Israeli groups, particularly the Regavim association and the watchdog group NGO Monitor, both of which the Palestinians have declared to be "terrorist organizations" in response to a decision by Defense Minister Benny Gantz to label six Palestinian rights organizations terrorist groups.

US President Joe Biden's transitional team sent the Palestinians messages that the new US administration expected the PA to keep a low profile with its demands for an ICC investigation into Israel and the IDF, and its demands that Israel be suspended from international entities.