ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)<br/> <br />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.<br/> <br />"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.<br/> <br />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.<br/> <br />Under ICC rules, Palestinian membership would allow the court, based in The Hague, to exercise jurisdiction over war crimes committed by anyo
