France to back Palestinian UN status

This was announced by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius Tuesday. The Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas is to put the application for non-member status to the vote in the General Assembly later this week. This status would grant the Palestinians access to such bodies as the International Criminal Court in The Hague for complaints against Israel.  The Netanyahu government, backed by the US, insists that Palestinian statehood must be achieved through peace negotiations with Israel. This the Palestinian leader rejects.