Palestinian Groups Urge Abbas To Take Israel To Icc

Palestinian factions on Wednesday called on Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas to sign on to the Rome Statute, which would allow them to take Israel to the International Criminal Court (ICC) over its just-ended onslaught on the embattled Gaza Strip.



"The Israeli occupation is responsible for the tragedies suffered by the Palestinian people," Saleh Nasser, leading member of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, told a press conference in Gaza City on Wednesday.



"The PA should immediately head to U.N. institutions and sign on to the Rome Statute," he added.



An Egypt-brokered cease-fire went into effect on Tuesday, ending 51 days of relentless Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip in which 2,143 Palestinians were killed and over 10,000 injured – the vast majority of them civilians – and thousands of homes destroyed.



"The Palestinian resistance is able to pressure Israel into committing to the cease-fire and to scheduled negotiations," Sami Abu Zuhri, spokesman for leading Palestinian resistance faction Hamas, told Anadolu Agency.



"The resistance has attained a strategic achievement [by resisting Israel's 51-day onslaught] and remains on the path to liberating [all of historical] Palestine," he said.



The deal calls for opening all border crossings between the Gaza Strip and Israel – effectively signaling the end of Israel's seven-year blockade of the coastal enclave.



The cease-fire formally came into effect as of 16: 00 GMT Tuesday.



"President Abbas made calls to United Nations, U.S. and European officials to drum up support for the cease-fire deal," Faisal Abu Shahla, a prominent member of Abbas' Fatah movement, told AA.



"Egypt, as an influential regional force, is the deal's primary guarantor," he said.



For the past eight weeks, Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip from air, land and sea with the stated aim of halting rocket fire from the Palestinian territory.



Since Israel's "Operation Protective Edge" began on July 7, at least 69 Israelis – 64 soldiers and five civilians – have been killed, according to Israeli figures.



The number of Palestinian fatalities from Israel's current offensive has surpassed the combined death toll from two previous operations against Gaza, including Israel's bloody "Operation Cast Lead" in 2008/09 in which at least 1500 Palestinians were killed over the course of three weeks.



By Nour Abu Eisha



englishnews@aa.com.tr



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