Israel suspends Palestinian foreign minister’s VIP pass amid ICJ row

By Awad Rajoub

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – Israel on Sunday suspended a VIP pass card of Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Maliki, in response to a Palestinian bid to seek the International Court of Justice (ICJ)’s opinion on the decades-long Israeli occupation.

The VIP pass card eases the minister’s travel in and around the occupied West Bank.

“The occupation authorities withdrew the minister’s VIP card as he returned from Jordan, in disregard of his position,” the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Political adviser Ahmed al-Deek termed the Israeli move as a “brazen violation” of international law and agreements signed between the Palestinian and Israeli sides.

“These measures will not deter us from rallying international political, diplomatic and legal support in all forums,” al-Deek said.

There was no comment from the Israeli authorities on the move.

On Friday, the Israeli government approved five sanctions against the Palestinian Authority (PA) in response to the PA bid to involve the ICJ.

Al-Maliki, for his part, described the Israeli penalties as a “violation of international law”.

"Israel must realize that it’s not completely free to act against the Palestinian people,” he told Voice of Palestine radio.

On Dec. 31, the UN General Assembly voted in favor of a Palestinian request to seek an advisory opinion from the ICJ on the nature of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.

*Ikram Imane Kouachi contributed to this report