World court hears case on legality of Israel occupation

The United Nations’ highest court is preparing 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 at The Hague from Monday, during which an unprecedented number of countries will participate, as Israel continues its devastating assault on Gaza.

Though the case occurs against the backdrop 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 on Monday, will argue that the Israeli occupation is illegal because it has violated three key tenets of international law, the Palestinian legal team told reporters on Wednesday.

They say Israel has violated the prohibition on territorial conquest by annexing large swathes of occupied land, has violated the Palestinians’ right to self-determination, and has imposed a system of racial discrimination and apartheid.

“We want to hear new words from the court,” said Omar Awadallah, the head of the UN organisations department in the Palestinian Foreign Ministry.

“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.”

Awadallah said an advisory opinion from the court “will give us many tools, using peaceful international law methods and tools, to confront 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.

“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,” said Yuval Shany, a law professor at Hebrew University and senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute.

Israel is not scheduled to speak during the hearings, but could submit a written statement. 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 October 7 attack in which Hamas-led militants from Gaza killed 1200 people across southern Israel and dragged 250 hostages back to the territory.

The case arrives at the court after the UN General Assembly voted by a wide margin in December 2022 to ask the world court for a non-binding advisory opinion on one of the world’s longest-running and thorniest disputes.

The request was promoted by the Palestinians and opposed vehemently by Israel. Fifty countries abstained from voting.

After the Palestinians present their arguments, 51 countries and three organisations — the League of Arab States, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and the African Union will address the panel of judges in the wood-panelled Great Hall of Justice.

Late in January, the court ordered Israel to do all it can to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in its campaign in Gaza. South Africa filed the case accusing Israel of genocide, a charge that Israel denied.

Australian Associated Press