Palestinians go to court as Israel continues building settlements

Palestinians are condemning Israel for announcing plans for new settlement construction immediately after the U.N. upgraded the status of the state of Palestine, and are demanding urgent international action to stop what they called "this latest Israeli provocation," CBS News cites Associated Press as saying.

They are also threatening to bring war crimes charges against the Jewish state.

Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour said in letters sent late Monday to the U.N. secretary-general, Security Council and General Assembly that, at the same time that Palestinian leaders reaffirmed their readiness to resume peace negotiations, "Israel continues to flagrantly pursue its illegal policies and practices."

He appealed to the international community, including the U.N. Security Council, to act urgently to salvage the internationally-backed goal of two states living side-by-side in peace, which was reaffirmed in last Thursday's General Assembly resolution raising the Palestinians' U.N. status to a non-member observer state.