As of today, 31 countries have appeared before the highest court.
What is noteworthy is that most of the countries appearing today have countered the arguments of the United States that this is not the appropriate forum to express an opinion and that the highest court should not rule on this issue because it is a bilateral issue between Israel and the Palestinians. In response the court is being told that it is now in a position to speak, because all the negotiations, all the diplomatic efforts seen throughout the war and over the years, have completely failed. let's wait and see how the events continue to unfold.
What is noteworthy is that most of the countries appearing today have countered the arguments of the United States that this is not the appropriate forum to express an opinion and that the highest court should not rule on this issue because it is a bilateral issue between Israel and the Palestinians. In response the court is being told that it is now in a position to speak, because all the negotiations, all the diplomatic efforts seen throughout the war and over the years, have completely failed. let's wait and see how the events continue to unfold.
Day 4 of hearings CIJ
China
Ma Xinmin, a Foreign Ministry legal adviser
+ China “has consistently supported the just cause of the Palestinian people in restoring their legitimate right”.
+“In pursuit of the right to self-determination”, he states, the Palestinian people’s use of force to “resist foreign oppression” and complete the establishment of an independent state is an “inalienable right”.
+Its very important to have the advisory opinion coming from the world’s highest court because it will guide any future negotiations.
Iran
Raza Najafi, foreign minister for legal and international affairs,
+“we remain at a turning point in the history” of humanity.
+“The opinion of this court can set the ground for saving the lives of thousands of innocent women and children and contribute to the legitimate demand of the people deprived of their inherent right to self-determination,” he said.
+constitute the ongoing violation by the Israeli occupying regime:
-Prolonged occupation
-Altering demographic composition in the occupied territories
-Altering the character and the status of the Holy City
-Discriminatory measures
-Violations of the rights of Palestinian people to permanent sovereignty over their natural resources
+“All the atrocities and crimes committed by the Israeli regime in the past almost eight years are a consequence of such inaction,” he said.
Even today, he added, the UNSC is “paralysed due to the stalemate” caused by a “certain permanent member”.
Irak
Hayder Shiya Al-Barrak, the representative of Iraq at the ICJ
+“the barbaric acts” committed by Israel, including “air strikes and rocket attacks targeting civilians”.“These acts constitute war crimes executed with a criminal intent” and are serious violations of the laws of war, he said, adding that Israel “must be held accountable”.
+the ICJ to make decisions “that safeguard the lives of the Palestinian men, women, children and elders, allowing them to enjoy a dignified and secure life where all human rights are achieved”.
Ireland
Attorney General Rossa Fanning
+international law limits the use of force in self-defence to “no more than what is necessary and proportionate”.
+Israel has “exceeded these limits” in its military response,
+The “defining feature” of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has been “continuous settlement activity”. “Through its actions, Israel has fundamentally altered the demographics of the West Bank,”
Japan
Tomohiro Mikanagi, Foreign Ministry of Japan.
+ Japan to argue this point: The international law about the inadmissibility of acquiring any territory by force applies to even the land within the borders that are not recognised internationally.
Jordan
Ayman Safadi, Jordan’s representative at the ICJ. Ahmad Ziadat,Minister of Justice
+“No country must be allowed to be above the law,” he added. “Israel is acting and has been allowed to act in complete disregard of international law. That cannot continue.”
+“The occupation is unlawful, it is inhumane, it must end, yet Israel has been systematically consolidating the occupation that is blatantly denying Palestinians’ right to self-determination.”
+ that attacks on holy sites in Jerusalem “threaten their integrity”.
+Israel’s policies and practices violate the law of occupation, Israel has engaged in a policy of progressively establishing settlements in so-called outposts.
+ Israeli settlements undermine the establishment of a sovereign, independent, contiguous and viable Palestinian state.
+Israel’s policies and practices when considered in their entirety leave no doubt as to Israel’s intention to annex occupied Palestinian territory.
+Israel must end its occupation across all Palestinian territory – that is for the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza. This must be done as a matter of urgency and as rapidly as possible.
Libia
Ahmed El Jahani,
+ The court has jurisdiction on the matter of the legality of the Israeli occupation and is entitled to issue an advisory opinion. Its statute stipulates that the court is entitled to give an opinion on any legal question following a request by the UN General Assembly.
+It was wrong of some countries to ask the ICJ not to hand out its advisory opinion to the UN General Assembly “with a perverse argument” that this would get in the way of bilateral negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians. “The law is the framework which prevents the political slippage, be it public or private level,”
+ The Fourth Geneva Convention applies to the occupied Palestinian territories, despite Israel’s claims to the contrary.
+ “Some may question the application of the norm prohibiting the use of force [to acquire territory] on the basis that it is an inter-state norm. That would imply that the OPT [Occupied Palestinian Territory] is not part of a state … Lebanon and more than 140 members of the UN have recognised the State of Palestine and East Jerusalem as its capital.”
+“Israel must dismantle its settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories and withdraw therefrom … It must also seize all violations of Palestinian peoples’ right to self-determination … It must also issue reparations.”
+The prohibition against the threat or use of force is enshrined in the UN Charter and is a cornerstone of the international legal order.
Luxembourg
’Alain Germeaux
+ Israel transferred part of its population to the occupied territories, which is unlawful according to the Fourth Geneva Convention. It continues to unlawfully destroy Palestinian property and subject Palestinians to violence.
+Illegal settlements are a major impediment to the achievement of a two-state solution and a “just and lasting and comprehensive peace”.
+Israel’s “activities of colonisation cannot be justified under self-defence.” Settlement activities are not proportionate or necessary measures.
Malasia
Dato' Seri Utama Haji Mohamad bin Haji Hasan, ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de Malasia,
+ Israel “must withdraw immediately from the Occupied Palestinian Territory [OPT]”. “Second, Israel must offer assurances and guarantees of non-repetition and third, Israel is under obligation to offer full reparations – annulment or repeal of all offending legislative and regulatory measures it has adopted for the [occupied Palestinian territories],”
Mauritius
+Mauritius cited the court’s opinion on the country’s decolonisation from Britain and in particular the case of the Chagos Archipelago’s unlawful detachment and its incorporation into a new colony.
+ In its advisory opinion delivered in 2019, the ICJ concluded that “the process of decolonisation of Mauritius was not lawfully completed when that country acceded to independence” and that Britain was “under an obligation to bring to an end its administration of the Chagos Archipelago as rapidly as possible”.
+Like the Palestinian territories, the Chagos Archipelago had been under long-lasting occupation.
+ court’s opinion would be beneficial to negotiations and to achieving a two-state solution.
China to ICJ: Palestine has ‘inalienable right’ to armed resistance
China tells ICJ: Palestinian ‘use of force to resist oppression is an inalienable right’
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