Abbas said in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah on Wednesday that Washington has said that the Palestinians risk losing 700 million dollars a year in US aid by pressing ahead with their efforts for the resolution.

Abbas, however, said he would continue the move and warned that he would take measures to join the International Criminal Court (ICC) if the US vetoed the motion.

On November 29, 2012, the 193-member UN General Assembly voted to upgrade Palestine’s status to non-member observer state.

The observer state status grants Palestinians access to UN agencies and the ICC, where they can file formal complaints against the Israeli regime.

Palestinians are seeking to create an independent state on the territories of the West Bank, East al-Quds (Jerusalem), and the besieged Gaza Strip and are demanding that Israel withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories.

Tel Aviv, however, has refused to return to the 1967 borders and is unwilling to discuss the issue of al-Quds.