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STORY: The U.S. responded on Wednesday (January 7) to reports the Palestinians had delivered to U.N. headquarters documents on joining the Rome Statute of the ICC and other international treaties, in a move that has heightened tensions with Israel and could lead to cuts in U.S. aid.

"The United States does not believe that the state of Palestine qualifies as a sovereign state and doesn't recognize it as such and does not believe that it is eligible to accede to the Rome statute," Jen Psaki, U.S. State Department spokeswoman said.

The official announcement of the date of the Palestinian accession to the ICC, in the form of a letter from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, was posted on a U.N. website. The United Nations is the official depositary of the Rome Statute and many other treaties.

Under ICC rules, Palestinian membership would allow the court, based in The Hague, to exercise jurisdiction over war crimes committed by anyo