Palestinians will join the International Criminal Court in April, UN confirms

The Palestinians will join the International Criminal Court (ICC) on April 1, the United Nations confirmed on Wednesday, opening the way for potential war crimes complaints against Israel.

The announcement by Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, will lead to a new phase of intense legal and diplomatic confrontation.

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, began the process of joining the court at the end of last year after the UN security council rejected a resolution asking for a deadline to a final peace agreement and Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territories.

He hopes that the move, which has transformed his relationship with Israel from strained to openly hostile, will put pressure on Israel to broker a deal.

But Israel, which fears its soldiers and officials will be pursued through the court, responded by ordering a halt to £83 million of monthly tax revenues that Israel collects for the Palestinian Authority.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has vowed further punitive steps. The decision to freeze the revenues has been criticised by the US, the European Union and Reuven Rivlin, the Israeli president, amid fears that it will leave the authority unable to pay the salaries of thousands of workers, destabilise the economy in the occupied West Bank and eventually lead to the PA’s collapse.

The EU said Israel’s decision breached the 1993 Oslo accords, which were intended to pave the way towards a two-solution to the decades-old conflict, and called on it to release the frozen revenues.

“The decision of the Israeli government to halt the transfer of tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority runs counter to Israel’s obligations under the Paris Protocol (the economic part of the accords),” said Federica Mogherini, the EU’s foreign policy chief.

“The EU is providing considerable support, including financial assistance, to ensure the building of the institutions and infrastructure of a future Palestinian state. These achievements should not be put at risk by not meeting obligations regarding the timely and transparent transfer of tax and custom revenues.

“The US State department also criticised the revenue freeze, saying it “raises tensions”.

Even as the State department objected, Senator Rand Paul tabled a bill to immediately halt roughly £263 million of US aid to the Palestinian Authority until it withdraws from the court. “Groups that threaten Israel cannot be allies of the US I will continue to do everything in my power to make sure this president and this Congress stop treating Israel’s enemies as American allies,” Mr Paul said.

Mr Ban’s announcement - made in his capacity as “depositary” of the court - means Palestine will become the 123rd state to join the tribunal. The Palestine Authority gained de facto recognition from the UN in November 2012, giving it the right to sign up for court and a host of other international bodies.

The setting of a date for its impending membership is likely to lend fresh urgency to Israeli reprisal measures and US attempts to persuade Mr Abbas to reverse the move, which Western diplomats argue will make a negotiated settlement less likely.

The Obama administration is still trying to prevent the Palestinian court bid from progressing, a state department spokeswoman said this week.

“We oppose to any actions that raise tensions and we call on both sides to avoid it ,” said Jen Psaki, the State spokeswoman.

France, which backed last week’s failed UN resolution, has also pleaded with Mr Abbas to step back after he pledged to keep retabling it to the security council. Palestinian officials believe the resolution would have a greater chance of passing in future after the membership of the 15-nation council changed to include members more sympathetic to their cause.