The United States on Wednesday defended Israel’s decades-long occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, arguing on the U.N.’s highest court docket that Israel confronted “very real security needs.”
The protection got here a day after the United States issued its third veto in opposition to a name for a right away cease-fire in Gaza on the United Nations Security Council, a vote that drew an offended response from nations and assist teams which have urged a cease to the preventing to assist Gaza’s civilians.
The newest present of American assist for Israel was on the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the place Richard C. Visek, the appearing authorized adviser on the U.S. State Department, urged a 15-judge panel to not name for Israel’s fast withdrawal from occupied Palestinian territory.
He mentioned that solely the institution of an impartial Palestinian state “living safely and securely alongside” Israel might result in lasting peace, repeating a longstanding U.S. place, however the prospect of which seems much more elusive amid the struggle in Gaza.
“This conflict cannot be resolved through violence or unilateral actions,” Mr. Visek mentioned. “Negotiations are the path to a lasting peace.”
The court docket is listening to six days of arguments over the legality of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian-majority territories, together with the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which has been the topic of years of debates and resolutions on the U.N. The hearings — involving greater than 50 nations — had been referred to as lengthy earlier than Israel went to struggle in opposition to Hamas in Gaza, however have turn into a part of a concerted world effort to cease the battle and study the legality of Israel’s insurance policies towards Palestinians.
Even because the judges listened to arguments within the stately wood-paneled courtroom within the Netherlands, the dynamics of the Israeli occupation had been enjoying out on the bottom within the West Bank metropolis of Jenin on Wednesday. In an in a single day raid that the Israeli army mentioned focused “terrorism,” Israeli forces killed three individuals and detained a minimum of 14 others.
Jenin, a greater than 70-year-old refugee camp that’s now a crowded neighborhood, has lengthy been a middle of armed wrestle in opposition to Israel’s occupation. And Israeli army raids, although frequent for years, have turn into way more frequent for the reason that Hamas-led terrorist assault on Israel on Oct. 7, which Israeli officers say killed about 1,200 individuals.
Israeli forces have detained a whole lot of Palestinians in West Bank raids in current months. Deadly violence in opposition to Palestinians by Israeli settlers has reached document ranges, and Palestinian assaults on Israelis have additionally elevated, underscoring the immediacy of the proceedings in The Hague.
And late Wednesday, Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s struggle cupboard, warned that Israel was getting ready to function within the Gazan metropolis of Rafah, close to the southern border, as soon as civilians had been evacuated there. He added that if a deal was not reached to launch the hostages nonetheless held in Gaza, the Israeli army would proceed to function through the holy month of Ramadan, which begins in March.
Hundreds of 1000’s of Palestinians have fled to Rafah after being displaced from their houses by the preventing in Gaza. The worldwide group has decried Israel’s plan to invade town due to the large numbers of individuals taking refuge there.
“History will judge us for how we respond today,” Jasmine Moussa, the authorized adviser to Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, instructed the court docket Wednesday, as she made the case for “the Palestinian people’s inalienable, permanent and unqualified right to self-determination.”
“One only needs to look at Israel’s vicious wholesale destruction of Gaza today after years of imposing the medieval methods, a siege and blockade, to realize the extent of Israel’s transgression of this principle,” she mentioned.
The hearings are the primary time the court docket has been requested to present an advisory opinion on the Israeli occupation. The U.N. General Assembly requested the court docket to evaluation the legality of Israeli insurance policies within the Palestinian territories greater than a 12 months in the past, earlier than Israel’s struggle in opposition to Hamas in Gaza, which has killed greater than 29,000 individuals, in response to Gazan well being authorities.
Israel has mentioned it could not take part within the hearings, and despatched a letter to the court docket final 12 months arguing that they had been unwarranted and didn’t “recognize Israel’s right and duty to protect its citizens” or its proper to safety.
The United States has strongly defended Israel’s marketing campaign in Gaza, which started after the Oct. 7 assaults. But though U.S. officers have additionally urged Israel to reduce its army marketing campaign and do extra to guard civilians, the American protection of Israel has left it more and more at odds even with staunch allies like France, Canada and Japan.
On Tuesday, its isolation was on show on the U.N. Security Council: It delivered the lone veto of a decision that referred to as for a right away cease-fire, saying it could disrupt efforts to free hostages held in Gaza. Thirteen different nations supported the decision, and Britain abstained.
On Wednesday, Mr. Visek, the State Department authorized adviser, requested the U.N. court docket to uphold the “established framework” for peace that he mentioned U.N. our bodies had agreed to — one that’s contingent on a “broader end to belligerence” in opposition to Israel — reasonably than to heed calls by different nations for Israel’s “unilateral and unconditional withdrawal” from occupied territories.
The Oct. 7 Hamas-led assaults on Israel had been a reminder of the threats dealing with the nation and of its safety wants, Mr. Visek mentioned, “and they persist.”
“Regrettably, those needs have been ignored by many of the participants in asserting how the court should consider the questions before it,” he mentioned, referring to different nations’ testimony within the hearings.
Mr. Visek’s look instantly preceded that of Vladimir Tarabrin, Russia’s ambassador to the Netherlands.
When he took the microphone, Mr. Tarabrin mentioned Russia values its “stable relations” with Israel and expressed condolences over Oct. 7. But in what gave the impression to be a thinly veiled swipe on the United States, he mentioned Russia “cannot accept the logic” of those that “try to defend the indiscriminate violence against civilians” in Gaza by citing Israel’s proper to defend itself.
“Violence can only lead to more violence,” he mentioned. Mr. Tarabrin criticized Israel for lots of the identical issues Russia has been accused of perpetrating in its struggle in Ukraine, together with annexation, deportation, transfers of populations and different violations of the Geneva Conventions.
Both Russia and the United States have used the hearings to advertise their very own agendas, they usually have every accused the opposite of hypocrisy.
The nations have repeatedly been accused of using a double normal on the U.N., with the United States not pushing for a cease-fire in Gaza whereas demanding one in Ukraine, as Russia criticizes Israel for among the very issues Moscow has completed in Ukraine.
The court docket, which frequently hears staid disputes amongst nations, has recently turn into a venue for nations to oppose Israel. Last month, South Africa argued on the court docket that Israel was committing genocide in opposition to Palestinians in Gaza — a cost Israel strongly rejected. The judges haven’t dominated on that declare, however issued an interim order for Israel to take steps to stop genocide in Gaza.
On Tuesday, South Africa condemned Israel’s insurance policies in opposition to Palestinians, calling them “a more extreme form of apartheid,” the race-based system of legal guidelines that disadvantaged Black South Africans for many years.
Israel has lengthy denied accusations that it operates an apartheid system, calling such allegations a slur and pointing to what it says is a historical past of being singled out for condemnation by U.N. our bodies and tribunals.
The United States has remained Israel’s staunchest defender internationally. But the Biden administration, beneath rising stress from elements of the Democratic Party, has additionally proven indicators of impatience with Israel’s conduct of the struggle, the rising toll in Gaza and the plight of Palestinians beneath Israeli occupation.
President Biden this month mentioned that Israel’s army response in Gaza had been “over the top” and that the immense civilian struggling had “to stop.” The remarks got here days after Mr. Biden imposed broad monetary sanctions in opposition to 4 Israeli males over violent assaults in opposition to Palestinians within the West Bank.
After the hearings, that are scheduled to conclude on Monday, the court docket will subject a nonbinding, advisory opinion. That choice is predicted to take a number of months.
