Palestinians to court: Israeli occupation is illegal

Israel has been deliberately violating international law for decades, the Palestinian Authority argued on the first day of an International Court of Justice (ICJ) hearing on Israel’s policies in the occupied Palestinian Territories.

“The force of law must prevail,’’ said Riyadh al-Maliki, the foreign minister of the Palestinian Authority (PA) on Monday before the highest court of the United Nations in The Hague.

The PA argued that Israel has been violating international law since 1967 when Israel took control of the areas in the so-called Six-Day War.

The war was by annexing wide strips of land and not granting Palestinians the right to self-determination.

The UN General Assembly asked the court for an opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s actions towards Palestinians in the occupied territories in late 2022, before the beginning of the latest Gaza war last year.

That was unleashed by the Oct. 7 attacks by the Palestinian extremist organisation Hamas and other militant groups in Israel.

The proceeding would examine the extent to which the 57-year occupation being legal and what legal consequences result from it.

Although the opinion is not binding, it could further increase international pressure on Israel in the current Gaza war.

Fifty-two states and three international organisations are taking part in the hearing, which is scheduled to last six days a record number for the court.

Israel did not wish to speak but would make a written statement.

It may take months before the expert opinion is presented.

Israel took control of the West Bank and East Jerusalem after the Six-Day War in 1967.

Today, around 700,000 Israeli settlers live there among three million Palestinians.

The Palestinians claim the territories for an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The UN granted Palestine observer state status in 2012.

Of 193 UN member states, 139 have so far recognised Palestine as an independent state.

Monday’s hearing is separate from the genocide proceedings brought by South Africa against Israel over the Gaza war.

In these proceedings, the ICJ issued an interim ruling at the end of January ordering Israel to do everything in its power to prevent death, destruction and genocide in the Gaza Strip.

Israel rejected South Africa’s accusations.