Non-binding ruling on legal ramifications of Israeli actions in East Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza may intensify international pressure on Israel over war with Hamas
The International Court of Justice will deliver its opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s “occupation of Palestinian territories” on July 19, the ICJ said Friday.
“A public sitting will take place at the Peace Palace in The Hague (on July 19)… during which Judge Nawaf Salam… will read out the Advisory Opinion,” the ICJ said.
A record 52 countries presented arguments at what is also known as the World Court about the legal ramifications of Israel’s actions in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip in February after the United Nations General Assembly asked the ICJ in 2023 for an advisory, non-binding opinion.
At the time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the UNGA over the resolution, accusing the global body of “distorting historical facts” and declaring that the Jewish people cannot be “an occupier” in its own land.
The United States said Israel should not be legally obliged to withdraw without taking its “very real security needs” into account.
Israel did not take part in the oral hearings.
It submitted a written contribution, in which it described the questions the court had been asked as “prejudicial” and “tendentious.”
While Israel has ignored such opinions in the past, the ICJ ruling next week could add political pressure over its devastating nine-month-old war against Palestinian terror group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The UN-affiliated ICJ is the only international court that adjudicates general disputes between nations and it gives advisory opinions on international legal issues.
In a brief statement to the ICJ issued last year in response to the proceedings, Israel emphasized that previous efforts to politically resolve the conflict had run aground, pointing to statements by former US president Bill Clinton, former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, and former Saudi ambassador to the US Prince Bandar bin Sultan, accusing the Palestinians of failing to come to an agreement with Israel and thereby end Israeli rule in the territories.
The Palestinian Authority had lobbied for the UN General Assembly to request the advisory opinion. It is seeking a ruling by the court that Israeli control and policies in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are illegal, and that Israel must end that rule, dismantle Israeli settlements, and provide restitution to Palestinians who have been harmed by it.
The case before the court is separate from one brought by South Africa against Israel for alleged genocide during its current offensive against Hamas in Gaza amid the war sparked by the terror group’s devastating October 7 attack.
Content retrieved from: https://www.timesofisrael.com/icj-to-deliver-opinion-on-israels-occupation-of-palestinian-territories-next-week/.
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