GENEVA
Palestine has formally joined the Geneva Conventions, which regulates warfare and armed conflict laws, a Swiss foreign ministry spokesman said Friday.
Pierre-Alain Eltschinger stated that Palestine has informed them of their joining the convention on April 2, and that Switzerland had officially registered Palestine on Thursday.
Palestinian representatives in Geneva told AA that the conventions and other international agreements had been signed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The Palestinian state was granted "non-member observer state status" by the United Nations on November 29, 2012 and has joined 15 international organizations since then.
Israel accepted to release 104 Palestinian prisoners in July 2013 as part of peace talks with Palestine under United States mediation. In response, Palestine agreed not to bring Israel to trial in international courts until the end of peace talks.
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