The United Nations’ top court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), is set to open a week of hearings on the legal consequences of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories.
Over 50 states are expected to address the judges, with Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki speaking first. The hearings are part of a Palestinian push for international legal institutions to examine Israel’s conduct, which has become more urgent since the October 7 attacks by Hamas in Israel and Israel’s military response.
The hearings are part of a Palestinian push to get international legal institutions to examine Israel’s conduct, which has become more urgent since the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas in Israel and Israel’s military response.
They also come amid mounting concerns about an Israeli ground offensive against the Gaza city of Rafah, a last refuge for over a million Palestinians after they fled to the south of the enclave to avoid Israeli assaults.Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem in the 1967 war and withdrew from Gaza in 2005, but still controls its borders.
The General Assembly has asked the ICJ for an advisory opinion related to the occupied Palestinian territory twice, in 2004 and 2004.
The hearings are separate from the genocide case that South Africa filed against Israel for its alleged violations of the 1948 Genocide Convention in Gaza. The outcome of the advisory opinion would not be legally binding but would carry “great legal weight and moral authority,” according to the ICJ.
(Reuters)
