Mahmoud Abbas holds fire on war crimes

The ­Palestinian Authority has eased back on pushing for Israel to be prosecuted for war crimes over last year’s war in Gaza.

A Palestinian child runs past a water tank in the Gaza strip that was destroyed by Israeli bombing last year.

On the eve of joining the Inter­national Criminal Court, the ­Palestinian Authority has eased back on pushing for Israel to be prosecuted for war crimes over last year’s war in Gaza.

This follows a conciliatory move by Israel to release hundreds of millions in frozen taxes to the Palestinians, averting a financial crisis that could have left the authority unable to pay police and ­security personnel.

Israel refused to transfer the money in retaliation for the authority’s UN-sponsored entry to the ICC, to take effect today and seen as part of a shift in strategy to internationalise its push for statehood away from the stalled US-led peace process.

While the ICC has opened a preliminary investigation into possible war crimes by Israel and Hamas — which controls Gaza and is in loose coalition with the Palestinian Authority on the West Bank — The Jerusalem Post reported the Palestinians would not ­demand “additional steps’’ for now. The Palestinians are also ­expected to hold off mooted action to pursue Israel on settlement construction through the ICC. The ­report was not denied by the authority yesterday.

Israel’s newly re-elected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last Friday announced the release of three months’ worth of ­impounded taxes and Customs ­duties to the Mahmoud Abbas-led authority, partly to ease tensions with Washington ­inflamed during the campaign by his repudiation of the two-state approach to peace ­embraced by Barack Obama.

Mr Netanyahu also had an eye to Israel’s self-interest; the security establishment had urged that the money be released, concerned the Palestinians would follow through with their threat to wind back or ­suspend security co-operation.

Observers say that Israel has ­effectively “contracted out’’ costly security responsibilities to the authority, despite the bitter ­dispute over its occupation of East Jerusalem and the West Bank ­territories. Israel Radio reported last week that petrol stations in Palestinian areas were refusing to honour fuel coupons presented by members of the local security forces, owing to unpaid accounts.

Israel collects an estimated $100 million a month on behalf of the authority, and withheld funds from December to the end of ­February will be handed over, minus the cost of services provided by Israel such as water and power.

A quid pro quo over the Palestinians’ use of their ICC membership would defuse a flashpoint in relations, and set the scene for the two sides to explore how to return to the bargaining table.

The UN General Assembly paved the way for the authority to join the ICC by upgrading its ­status in a 2012 vote that had unexpected ramifications for Julia Gillard’s then Labor government in Australia. Ms Gillard was determined to support Israel and ­oppose the resolution, only to be rolled in cabinet, forcing a compromise position that Australia abstain in the UN vote.

The status of Palestine remains a simmering issue in the ALP, driven by demographic changes in its heartland of western Sydney, home to growing and increasingly vocal Islamic communities.