The Court of Justice panel, which includes 15 judges, is required to conduct a review into the practices of the Israeli occupation in Palestine (Anatolia)
South Africa on Tuesday urged the International Court of Justice to issue an advisory opinion declaring that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal, considering that the decision would help efforts to reach a settlement.
South African representatives opened the second day of hearings at the Court of Justice in The Hague. The session comes in the wake of a request made by the United Nations General Assembly in 2022 to issue an advisory, that is, non-binding, opinion on the Israeli occupation.
South Africa's ambassador to the Netherlands, Vusimuzi Madonsela, told the judges that "a clear legal characterization of the nature of the Israeli regime in its relationship with the Palestinians can only help address the ongoing delay and achieve a just settlement."
Madonsela added that Israel considers itself unrestrained in its actions against the Palestinians, noting that about 30,000 Palestinians were killed during the last 4 months, stressing that "these are not just statistics, but the blood and body parts of the Palestinian people."
He considered that "the international community's reluctance to hold Israel accountable for its policies and practices, and its inability to guarantee the immediate, unconditional and complete withdrawal of Israeli forces, and the immediate end of the occupation and apartheid in Palestine, encourages Israel to cross a new threshold, which is committing the crime of crimes, genocide." He called for holding the perpetrators and perpetrators of Israeli crimes responsible and holding them accountable.
The South African ambassador said that Israel practices "more extreme" apartheid in the Palestinian territories than what his country faced before 1994.
For his part, the lawyer representing South Africa, Peter Andreas Stemmett, said that “preventing apartheid and racial discrimination is imperative in international law” and obliges all countries, including Israel.
Stemmett added, "Israel's complete disregard and disrespect for these principles makes the occupation illegal in its essence and foundation."
In turn, Saudi Arabia’s representative in court, Yad Bin Maashi, said, “We reject any justification for killing thousands of innocent people and displacing them from their homes and land.”
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip, leaving tens of thousands of victims, most of them children and women, in addition to an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe and a noticeable deterioration in infrastructure and property, according to Palestinian and UN data.
More than 50 countries will participate in the sessions of the Court of Justice - which began yesterday and will continue until February 26 - and will present arguments regarding Israeli practices in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Yesterday, representatives of the Palestinian side called on the judges of the United Nations’ highest court to declare the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories illegal, saying that the court’s advisory opinion could contribute to advancing the two-state solution and establishing lasting peace.
Israel will not attend the hearings, but has sent a written statement saying that the advisory opinion would harm attempts to achieve a negotiated settlement with the Palestinians.
The court - which includes 15 judges - is now required to conduct a review of the “occupation, settlement and annexation” practiced by Israel, “including measures aimed at changing the demographic composition, character and status of the city of Jerusalem, and its adoption of relevant discriminatory legislation and measures.”
The justices are expected to take about 6 months to deliberate, before issuing an advisory opinion, in response to the request, which also asks them to consider the legal status of the occupation and its repercussions.
Source: Al Jazeera + agencies