Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas signed papers Wednesday to join the International Criminal Court (ICC), The New York Times reported. The controversial move will likely result in Palestinian war crimes suits against Israel and severe sanctions from Jerusalem and the United States. Palestine joined the ICC after the defeat of an United Nations Security Council resolution on Tuesday that demanded the end of Israel's control over Palestinian lands by 2017.

"There is an aggression practiced against our land and our country, and the Security Council let us down-where shall we go?" Abbas said as he signed the founding charter of the ICC as well as 17 other international treaties and conventions.

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Abbas, whose popularity dropped since the summer, has been under pressure from the public and Palestinian leaders to join the ICC and pursue cases against Israel. Yet by doing so, Palestine might not only face sanctions by Israel and the U.S., but also charges in the ICC. 

Read more from the New York Times here.
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