52 States Address ICJ Hearing On Israel’s Palestine Policies

Fifty two and three international bodies have provided commented on the legal consequences of Israel’s policies and practices in Occupied Palestinian Territory.

UN correspondent of News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the states made their presentations during the public hearing at International Court of Justice, based on UN General Assembly’s request. The hearing since February 19, closes today.

Filed before the four-month-old war in Gaza began, the case triggered heated commentary even before the court’s President, Judge Nawaf Salam, opened the hearings.

The Assembly submitted two questions to World Court in its December 2022 request.

The questions are: “What are the legal consequences arising from violation by Israel of the right of Palestinian people to self-determination, from its prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including measures at altering the demographic composition, character and status of Jerusalem, and from its adoption of related discriminatory legislation and measures?

“How do the policies and practices of Israel affect the occupation, and what are the legal consequences for states and the UN from this status?”

Palestine in its three hours presentation during the public hearing, accused Israel of apartheid, ethnic cleansing, killings and displacement of Palestinians.

Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki began by saying, “I stand before you as 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, half of them children, are besieged and bombed, killed and maimed, starved and displaced, as more than 3.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are subjected to colonization of their territory and the racist violence…”

He also said successive governments in Israel have left only three choices to Palestinians – displacement, subjugation or death.

Riyad added that the choices are for them to choose ethnic cleansing, apartheid or genocide.

The foreign minister said it is of “moral, political and legal imperative” to bring “an end to Israel’s impunity”.

“Our people are here to stay…and they will not forsake their rights,” the Palestinian foreign minister added during the submission.

South Africa had filed a separate complaint with the ICJ in December 2023 against Israel for “genocide in Gaza” – for which the court already issued provisional measures.

Vusimuzi Madonsela, the country’s ambassador to the Netherlands, told the court that after “decades of apartheid settler colonialism, a just solution for all who legally qualify to live in historical Palestine would need to be negotiated with the assistance of the international community”.

Drawing a parallel between the situation in Palestine and the struggle of South Africans against apartheid, an “institutionalised regime of discriminatory laws”, he said current practices ensure “Israeli-Jewish domination”.