- The Palestinian foreign minister has accused Israel of apartheid and asked the United Nations Supreme Court to declare Israel’s occupation of land sought for a Palestinian state illegal.
- The hearing at the International Court of Justice focused on the legality of Israel’s 57-year occupation.
- The court’s opinion is expected to take several months, and 51 countries and three international organizations will present their opinions before the court.
The Palestinian foreign minister on Monday accused Israel of apartheid and told the United Nations Supreme Court that Israel’s occupation of land sought by a Palestinian state is illegal and must be stopped immediately and unconditionally for any hope of two-state survival. I asked him to declare that he must do so.
The remarks were made during historic hearings questioning the legality of Israel’s 57-year occupation. The case began against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war and quickly became the focus of the day – hearings centered on Israel’s unrestricted control over the occupied West Bank, Gaza Strip and annexed East Jerusalem. Even though it was a thing.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki told the International Court of Justice that “2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, half of them children, are besieged, bombed, killed, injured, starved, and displaced.” “There is,” he said.
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“More than 3.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, are exposed to the colonization of their territory and the racist violence that enables it,” it added.
Riyad al-Maliki, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Palestinian Authority (centre), and Riyad Mansour, representative of the Palestinian Authority to the United Nations (right), sit at the UN Supreme Court during a historic hearing in The Hague, Netherlands, 2024 February 19th. On Monday, the United Nations Supreme Court began a six-day hearing on the legality of Israel’s 57-year occupation of the land, which was sought for a Palestinian state. (AP Photo/Peter DeJong)
Paul Reichler, an international law expert who represents the Palestinians, told the court that Israeli government policy was “in line with the Israeli settler movement’s goal of extending its long-term control over the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. “This is an unprecedented degree of agreement,” he said. In fact, it aims to further integrate those areas into Israeli territory.
The hearings followed a request by the United Nations General Assembly for a non-binding advisory opinion on Israel’s policies in the occupied territories. It is expected to take several months for the justices to issue an opinion.
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Israeli representatives were not scheduled to speak, but submitted a five-page letter to the court last July, which was made public after Monday’s hearing.
Israel said in the letter that the questions submitted to the court were biased and “fail to recognize Israel’s right and obligation to protect its own citizens” and address Israel’s security concerns. , or an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians to negotiate issues including the “permanent status of Palestine,” it said. Territory, security agreements, settlements and borders. ”
“While the request filed with the court seeks to portray the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as such, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a cartoon of villains and victims in which neither Israeli rights nor Palestinian obligations exist. “This is not a simple story,” the court said. “Such misrepresentations only drive the parties further apart, rather than creating conditions that bring them closer together.”
“Palestinians have been denied this right for decades and endured both colonialism and apartheid,” al-Maliki told the court, citing the right to self-determination enshrined in the United Nations Charter. I told the official.
Palestinians claim that by annexing vast swathes of occupied territory, Israel has violated the ban on territorial conquest and the Palestinians’ right to self-determination, and imposed a system of racial discrimination and apartheid.
“This occupation is essentially annexation and supremacy,” al-Maliki said, defending the Palestinians’ right to self-determination, “The Israeli occupation is illegal and must end immediately, completely and unconditionally.” He appealed to the court to declare that “there must be.”
After the hearing, al-Maliki said the court’s opinion could improve the chances of peace.
“This ruling could help both Palestinians and Israelis finally live together in peace, mutual security and dignity,” he told reporters.
An unprecedented 51 countries and three international organizations are expected to address the court in the coming days.
Palestinians and major rights groups argue that the occupation is much more than a defensive measure. They argue that it has turned into an apartheid system, reinforced by the construction of settlements in the occupied territories, aimed at giving second-class status to Palestinians and maintaining Jewish hegemony from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. are doing. Israel rejects any accusation of apartheid.
Israel occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Middle East War. Palestinians seek independent statehood in all three areas. Israel considers the West Bank to be disputed territory, and its future should be determined through negotiations.
It has built 146 settlements across the West Bank, many resembling fully developed suburbs or small towns, according to the monitoring group Peace Now. More than 500,000 Jewish settlers live in the settlements, and about 3 million Palestinians live in the territory.
Israel has annexed East Jerusalem and considers the entire city its capital. Another 200,000 Israelis live in settlements built in East Jerusalem, which Israel considers a suburb of the capital. Palestinian residents in the city face systematic discrimination, making it difficult to build new housing or extend existing ones.
Israel withdrew all soldiers and settlers from the Gaza Strip in 2005, but continued to control its airspace, coastline, and population registry. After the Palestinian militant group Hamas seized power in the Gaza Strip in 2007, Israel and Egypt placed it under blockade.
The international community overwhelmingly considers the settlements to be illegal. Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem, home to Jerusalem’s most important holy sites, is not recognized internationally.
This is not the first time the court has been asked to provide an advisory opinion on Israeli policy.
In 2004, he said the separation wall that Israel built in East Jerusalem and parts of the West Bank was “in violation of international law.” It also called on Israel to immediately halt construction. Israel ignored this ruling.
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The court also ordered Israel late last month to do everything in its power to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in the Gaza operation. The order was issued at a preliminary stage in a lawsuit in which South Africa accused Israel of genocide, a charge that Israel denies.
Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour, at times overcome with emotion, urged the 15-judge panel to “lead the international community to uphold international law, end injustice, and achieve a just and lasting peace.” He concluded Monday’s hearing with a passionate appeal.
He told the judge: “We must work toward a future where Palestinian children are treated as children, not as demographic threats, and where our group identity does not diminish the rights we all have. Please guide us as you guide us.” . ”
