THE HAGUE, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Palestine has officially joined the Chemical Weapons Convention and the move will take effect on June 16, the implementing body for the Convention, the Hague-based Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) announced on Wednesday.
Palestine "deposited on 17 May 2018 its instrument of accession to the Chemical Weapons Convention with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the depositary of the Convention. The Convention will enter into force for the State of Palestine on June 16 2018", said the OPCW in a statement.
The OPCW oversees the global endeavor to permanently and verifiably eliminate chemical weapons. Since the Convention's entry into force in 1997 -- and with its 192 States Parties -- it is the most successful disarmament treaty eliminating an entire class of weapons of mass destruction.
Palestine became an observer in the United Nations in 2012. This status allowed Palestine to become a party to some important international treaties such as the Rome Statute, the fundamental document of the International Criminal Court ICC) and now of the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Palestine joined Interpol in September 2017 and the International Criminal Court (ICC) in April 2015.
