The US Administration's announcement of its intention to withdraw from the Additional Protocol to the Vienna Convention reaffirms the administration's disdain towards international law and the rules-based international order, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

“This administration is willfully disrupting and undermining the international order because of its blind support to Israel's illegal colonial policies, thus advancing this hostile agenda at the expense of global cooperation and protecting the standing and influence of international norms,” it said.

The Ministry said that “the State of Palestine has exercised its right to defend itself through legal means by resorting to the International Court of Justice on the issue of the illegal US embassy move to our capital, Jerusalem. This step was based on the compulsory jurisdiction of Court, as stipulated in Article I of the Additional Protocol.”

It said that the decision of the US administration to pull out of the Additional Protocol “reaffirms its rejection of accountability and determination to be above the law, using false pretexts of politicization and recklessly attacking the credibility the world's most prestigious courts. This move also reconfirms worldwide fears about its hostile and isolationist attitude, which threaten the international order with yet more disruption.”

The statement concluded: “The Palestinian leadership will continue to defend our people's rights against all threats posed by Israel's illegal colonial policies and States that support and adopt them. We will do so in line with international law and using available international conflict-resolution mechanisms. Our actions are anchored in our commitment to and respect for international law and existing international mechanisms.

It is also based on our conviction that no one person or country is above the law and that accountability is a cornerstone of ensuring and protecting international peace and security. It is now rather obvious that the current US administration believes it is above the law and beyond the reach of accountability. This reckless attitude is a challenge to the international order; one that Palestine and the rest of the international community must face with clarity of vision and determination.”