Palestine to submit new resolution to UN Security Council

The Palestinian leadership will bring another resolution to the UN Security Council calling for an end to the Israeli occupation, chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat said Monday.

Erekat said in an interview with the Israeli newspaper Yadiot Ahronot that the timing of the submission of the new resolution would be determined during a meeting with Arab ministers to be held later this month.

Meanwhile, Palestine will become a member of the International Criminal Court by March, Erekat said.

He said that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu should be held accountable for freezing millions of dollars in tax revenues earlier this week, and that the Palestinian Authority could not pay its employees' salaries or administer schools without the funds.

"Our independence and freedom are above everything else, unlike what Netanyahu thinks," Erekat said.

Erekat called for activating a financial security web agreed upon in the Kuwait summit, with Arab countries providing $100 million per month to the PA until it is able to make ends meet.

Israeli authorities on Saturday froze the transfer of tax funds collected by Israel for the Palestinian Authority in response to President Mahmoud Abbas' decision to sign the Rome Statute.

Under interim peace deals, Israel collects taxes on behalf of the PA, money it needs to pay public sector salaries. 

Each month, PA salaries cost around $200 million, $120 million of which is covered from the taxes collected by Israel.

Palestine brought a resolution last week to the UN Security Council calling for statehood and an end to the Israeli occupation, but the resolution failed to obtain the necessary amount of votes.

Even if it had passed, the US would certainly have vetoed it.