Hague to open hearings on Israeli occupation
The United Nations’ highest court is set to open historic hearings into the legality of Israel's 57-year occupation of lands sought for a Palestinian state, plunging the 15 international judges back into the heart of the decades-long Israeli-palestinian conflict.
Six days of hearings are scheduled at the International Court of Justice from today, during which an unprecedented number of countries will participate, as Israel continues its devastating assault on Gaza.
Though the case occurs against the back drop of the israel-hamas war, it focuses instead on Israel's open-ended occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem.
Palestinian representatives, who speak first today, will argue the Israeli occupation is illegal because it has violated three key tenets of international law, the Palestinian legal team has said.
They claim Israel has violated the prohibition on territorial conquest by annexing large swaths of occupied land, has violated the Palestinians’ right to self-determination, and has imposed a system of racial discrimination and apartheid.
Omar Awadallah, the head of the UN organisations department in the Palestinian Foreign Ministry, said :“we want to hear new words from the court.
“They've had to consider the word genocide in the South Africa case ,” he said, referring to a separate case before the court. “Now we want them to consider apartheid.”
Mr Awadallah said an advisory opinion from the court “will give us many tools, using peaceful international law methods and tools, to con front the illegalities of the occupation ”.
The court will likely take months to rule. But experts say the decision, though not legally binding, could profoundly impact international jurisprudence,international aid to israel and public opinion.
Yuval Shany, a law professor at hebrew university and a senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, said :“The case will put before the court a litany of accusations and allegations and grievances which are probably going to be uncomfortable and embarrassing for israel, given the war and the already very polarised international environment .”
Israelis not scheduled to speak during the hearings, but could submit a written statement. Mr Shany said Israel will likely justify the ongoing occupation on security grounds, especially in the absence of a peace deal.
It is likely to point to the October7 attack in which ham as-led militants from gaza killed 1,200 people across southern Israel and dragged 250 hostages back to the territory.
“There is this narrative that territories from which Israel withdraws, like Gaza, can potentially transform into very serious security risks,” Mr Shany said. “If anything, October 7 underscored the traditional Israeli security rationale to justify unending occupation.” But Palestinians and leading rights groups say the occupation goes far beyond defensive measures. They say it has morphed into an apartheid system, bolstered by settlement building on occupied lands, that gives Palestinians second-class status and is designed to maintain Jewish hegemony from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.
Israel rejects any accusation of apartheid.