Hearings into the legality of Israel’s 57-year occupation of Palestine are separate from the genocide case introduced by South Africa.
The United Nations’s highest courtroom is about to open historic hearings into the legality of Israel’s 57-year occupation of the Palestinian territories.
The week-long proceedings, which start on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague on Monday, come as Israel continues its devastating battle on Gaza.
The assault has killed greater than 29,000 Palestinians since October 7.
The case is separate from the genocide grievance South Africa filed on the ICJ in opposition to Israel for its alleged violations within the ongoing battle.
It focuses as a substitute on Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem since 1967.
The Palestinians search all three areas for an impartial state.
Palestinian representatives, who converse first on Monday, will argue that the Israeli occupation is illegitimate as a result of it has violated three key tenets of worldwide regulation, the Palestinian authorized staff advised reporters on Wednesday.
They say Israel has violated the prohibition on territorial conquest by annexing massive swathes of occupied land, violated Palestinians’ proper to self-determination and imposed a system of racial discrimination and apartheid.
“We want to hear new words from the court,” stated Omar Awadallah, the pinnacle of the UN organizations division within the Palestinian Foreign Ministry.
“They’ve had to consider the word genocide in the South Africa case,” he stated, referring to the separate case earlier than the courtroom. “Now we want them to consider apartheid.”
Awadallah stated that an advisory opinion from the courtroom “will give us many tools, using peaceful international law methods and tools, to confront the illegalities of the occupation”.
The courtroom will possible take months to make a ruling.
After the Palestinians current their arguments, an unprecedented 51 international locations and three organisations – the League of Arab States, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the African Union – will deal with the judges within the wood-panelled Great Hall of Justice.
Israel is not going to current an oral argument, though it has despatched written observations.
The case arrived on the courtroom after the UN General Assembly (UNGA) voted by a large margin in December 2022 to ask the 15-judge panel for a non-binding advisory opinion on the Israeli occupation.
The request was promoted by Palestinians and opposed vehemently by Israel, which stated any potential choice from the courtroom can be “completely illegitimate”.
Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza in 1967 throughout a battle with Egypt, Jordan and Syria.
Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 however nonetheless controls the enclave’s borders.
In the occupied West Bank, it has constructed 146 settlements, in response to the watchdog group Peace Now, that are residence to greater than 500,000 Jewish settlers. The West Bank settler inhabitants has grown by greater than 15 p.c within the final 5 years, in response to a pro-settler group.
Israel additionally has annexed East Jerusalem and considers your entire metropolis to be its capital. An extra 200,000 Israelis dwell in settlements in-built East Jerusalem, which Israel considers to be neighbourhoods of its capital. Palestinian residents of town face systematic discrimination, making it tough for them to construct new houses or broaden current ones.
The worldwide neighborhood overwhelmingly considers the settlements to be unlawful. Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem, residence to town’s most delicate holy websites, shouldn’t be internationally recognised.
The case marks the second time the UNGA has requested the ICJ, also called the World Court, for an advisory opinion associated to the occupied Palestinian territory.
In July 2004, the courtroom discovered that Israel’s separation wall within the West Bank violated worldwide regulation and must be dismantled, although it nonetheless stands to today.
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