The sharp increase of Israeli settlement building since the swearing in of Donald Trump, coupled with the anger brewing in Europe over the new US president, is providing an opening for the Palestinians. Attempts to encourage the International Criminal Court (ICC) to initiate a probe into Israeli war crimes have received new life due to the rift between Washington and the European Union.

Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator and secretary-general of the PLO, called Jan. 30 on the ICC to immediately open a probe into what he called “immoral” Israeli actions. “The Palestinian leadership will pursue all necessary political, legal and diplomatic steps in order to hold Israel accountable and to bring justice to our people. This includes sending all the related information to the ICC urging it to open an immediate investigation into Israel's settlement enterprise,” Erekat said in a statement posted on the PLO Negotiations Affairs Department website.

Ever since Trump took office Jan. 20, and especially since Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talked by phone Jan. 22, Israel has been almost daily announcing new settlement plans in the occupied West Bank. On Dec. 23, the United Nations Security Council approved Resolution 2334 demanding “that Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem.”

Two days after Trump was sworn in as America’s 45th president, Israel announced plans to build 600 new settlement units in occupied East Jerusalem.