Palestinians are suffering from “colonialism and apartheid” under Israeli occupation, Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki told the UN’s highest court on Monday.
The minister urged the judges to demand an immediate and unconditional end to the Israeli occupation. Al-Maliki told the International Court of Justice (ICJ):
“The Palestinians have endured colonialism and apartheid … There are those who are enraged by these words. They should be enraged by the reality we are suffering.”
Hearings on the legal consequences of the Israeli occupation since 1967 are taking place all week at the UN International Court of Justice. Fifty-two countries, including the US and Russia, are expected to attend.
Israel will not participate in the hearing, but has submitted a written submission dated 24 July 2023 urging the court to reject the request for an opinion.
Speaking at the Peace Palace in The Hague, where the International Court of Justice sits, the minister called on the judges to declare the occupation illegal and order it to end “immediately, completely and unconditionally”. He said:
“Justice delayed is justice denied and the Palestinian people have been denied justice for far too long. It is time to put an end to the double standards that have kept our people captive for far too long.”
In December 2022, the UN General Assembly asked the UN International Court of Justice to issue a non-binding “advisory opinion” on “the legal consequences arising from Israeli policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.”
While any UN International Court of Justice opinion would be non-binding, it comes amid growing international legal pressure on Israel over the war in Gaza, triggered by Hamas’ brutal attacks on 7 October.
The hearing is separate from a high-profile case brought by South Africa, which alleges that Israel is committing acts of genocide during the current offensive on Gaza.
In January, the UN International Court of Justice ruled that Israel must do everything possible to prevent genocide and allow humanitarian aid into Gaza without ordering a ceasefire.
The UN General Assembly asked the International Court of Justice to consider two issues.
First, the court must examine the legal consequences of “Israel’s continued violation of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination”.
This concerns the “prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967” and “measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the holy city of Jerusalem”.
In June 1967, Israel defeated several of its Arab neighbours in a six-day war, capturing the West Bank of the Jordan River, including eastern Jerusalem, from Jordan, the Golan Heights from Syria, and the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt.
Israel then began to settle 70,000 square kilometres of captured Arab territory. The UN later recognised the occupation of the Palestinian territories as illegal. Cairo returned the Sinai under the 1979 peace agreement with Israel.
Second, the ICJ must make recommendations on how Israel’s actions “affect the legal status of the occupation” and what the implications are for the UN and other countries.
Israel said the “biased” and “tendentious” questions “represent a clear distortion of the history and current reality of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
