[JURIST] Palestinian leaders will meet on Wednesday to plan actions after the UN Security Council [official website] rejected a resolution [AP report] on Tuesday to end Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories within three years. Palestinian officials said they could set a date to apply to join the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website]. Palestinians have vowed to join the ICC and press charges against Israel for war crimes many times throughout more than two decades of peace talks, however their membership could expose them to similar accusations. Following the vote on Tuesday, frustrated Palestinian officials will continue to campaign for international action to bring about an independent Palestinian state. The resolution, which failed to reach the nine-vote majority needed for approval, received eight votes in favor of it, five abstentions and two votes against it by the US and Australia.

In recent months conflict between Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory have led to the deaths of many civilians, prompting the UN and the international community to call for an end to the conflict. On Monday Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas [official website] announced the plans to submit the resolution [JURIST report] to the UN Security Council. In November UN human rights experts suggested [JURIST report] that the Israeli government’s use of house demolition as a punitive measure in response to alleged acts of violence by Palestinians end immediately. In September UN experts stated [JURIST report] that there has not been a single child in the Gaza Strip area not affected by the ongoing conflict. In March another UN human rights expert called on Israel [JURIST report] to cease all settlement activity and immediately withdraw settlers from Palestinian territories. In August UN Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian Territories occupied since 1967 [official website] formally requested access [JURIST report] to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory to gather first-hand information into the human rights situation in Gaza.