Acting Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas has signed a request to join several UN agencies in an effort to win more recognition from the world body.
“The Palestinian leadership has unanimously approved a decision to seek membership of 15 UN agencies and international treaties, beginning with the Fourth Geneva Convention,” Abbas said on Tuesday after signing the demand during a meeting in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.
“The demands (for membership) will be sent immediately” to the relevant agencies, he added.
The Palestinians agreed to stop seeking membership of international bodies and pursuing legal action against Israel during the nine months of talks, launched in July 2013. Israel, in return, agreed to free 104 Palestinian inmates in four groups.
Abbas said he made the decision because Israelis failed to keep their promise as the Israeli regime has refused to release the final batch of 26 prisoners. The group was due to be freed by the end of March.
Israel has been pushing to secure an agreement for the extension of the talks beyond their April 29 deadline before the Palestinian detainees are released.
The Palestinians have also threatened to resume their action through international courts and the UN over Israel’s illegal settlement expansion in the occupied Palestinian lands.
Earlier on Tuesday, Tel Aviv issued tenders for 708 settlement units in the Israeli settlement of Gilo in illegally annexed East al-Quds (Jerusalem) in order to encourage Israelis to build over 3,000 settler units in East al-Quds and elsewhere in the occupied West Bank in the first quarter of 2014.
The last round of negotiations between the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli regime broke down in 2010 after Tel Aviv refused to halt its settlement construction in the occupied West Bank.
MR/AS/MHB
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