Day 3 of the ICJ hearings over the occupation of Palestine
Colombia presents its arguments
Colombia’s representative Andrea Jiménez Herrera opens by expressing “deep concern” over incidents that regularly occur between “the state of Palestine and the state of Israel”, exacerbated after horrific events that have taken place since October 7, 2023.
Colombia reiterates that “the occupation of the Palestinian territory is a violation of international law and is contrary to the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations”, she said.
Colombia highlights “the need to redouble efforts to encourage a negotiated solution on the basis of international law, and with the purpose of the establishment of a fully viable Palestinian state, existing side by side with Israel and its neighbours, fostering peace and security in the region”.
‘Scorched earth policy unleashed by Israel’
Colombia’s representative Andrea Jiménez Herrera describes a “veritable map of horror and devastation” that the Gaza Strip has become as a result of the “scorched earth policy unleashed by the government of Israel”.
Colombia, she says, requests that the UN’s top court “should not underestimate the fact that the situation in Gaza has become more deadly over the past months and, therefore, the legal consequences of such actions must be even more serious today than in the world we were living before this bloodshed started”.
Colombia urges ICJ to consider ‘real and imminent risk’ to Palestinians
In her closing statement, Colombia’s Jimenez Herrera calls upon the ICJ to give the advisory opinion requested by the UN General Assembly. “Ultimately what is at stake here is ensuring the safety and, indeed, the very existence of the Palestinian people,” she says.
Jimenez Herrera asked the court to consider “the real and imminent risk of irreparable prejudice to the rights of Palestinians as a consequence of Israel’s occupation – as has been fully documented by international agencies, United Nations organs, and even recently recognised by the court itself”.
Cuba: International community bears ‘moral responsibility’
Cuban diplomat Anayansi Rodriguez Camejo tells the court “we and you bear the moral responsibility to pronounce ourselves in a clear and transparent way on the ignominious situation of the Palestinian people”.
Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories is an “international wrongful act”, she said, “the aggravation of which reiterates the responsibility of the occupying power and the international community”.
“It was agreed by Resolution 242 that Israel’s armed force would withdraw from the territories of 1967, but this was not so. The Palestinian people have the inalienable right to determine their own political, economic and social destiny,” said Rodriguez Camejo.
Cuba: Some countries complicit with Israel to maintain its ‘impunity’
Rodríguez Camejo says some nations “act with complicity” to aid Israel in its “impunity” rather than prevent the ongoing “genocide” against the Palestinian people. Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are changing the demographic composition of the Palestinian territories and “undermine and deny the ability of Palestinians to exercise their right to self-determination”, she said.
The Oslo Accords state no party shall take any steps that could modify the status of Gaza or the West Bank, but the destruction and the appropriation of property unlawfully and arbitrarily constitutes a breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention, she argued.
Israel’s war on Gaza is a ‘low-intensity genocide’, Cuba says
Cuba’s representative says Israel’s war on Gaza “is perpetrated with systematic and effective cruelty”.
She says to qualify Israel’s actions “merely as acts of apartheid would leave out the implicit intention to exterminate the Palestinian people, either in part or as an ethnic and religious group to whom the right to self-determination is denied”.
ICJ shouldn’t wait for ‘complete extermination’ to rule: Cuba
Israel, as the occupying power and its allies, must take responsibility for the “legal implications resulting from the sustained non-compliance” with international law, Rodriguez Camejo says. “The situation that is taking place in the eyes of all confirms the ongoing genocide. Innocent victims – girls, boys, women – number in the thousands.
“Those for years who have supported each and every one of the policies and practices of Israel, which denied the existence of the Palestinian people and their rights, this agenda has advanced over the course of time. “We are convinced this court should not wait for the complete extermination of an entire nation before ruling on the matter.”
‘Shocking some states don’t want court’s legal opinion’: Egypt
Egypt’s legal counsellor Jasmine Moussa has taken the floor. She says the ongoing grave violations of international law are part of a “wider policy aimed at dispossessing Palestinians of their land”, which is “manifestly illegal and renders the occupation as a whole unlawful”.
“It is shocking that some states do not want the court to render its legal opinion. What message does this send on their respect for international justice and the rule of law?” she asked. The court has jurisdiction on the matter, Moussa added. “Rather than prejudicing the peace process, it would serve as an additional, essential element for the UN General Assembly to carry out its role. This is critical given the complete absence of any real prospect for a peaceful solution.”
Palestine subjected to ‘longest protracted occupation in modern history’
Egypt’s Jasmine Moussa says the Middle East “yearns for peace and stability” and a “comprehensive and lasting resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict”.
Cairo wants the “establishment of a viable Palestinian state on the pre-1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital”, she said. Moussa highlighted the “ongoing violation by Israel of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination from its prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967”.
Egypt’s representative says there is “overwhelming evidence that Israeli support for and maintenance of settlements is intended to permanently alter the demographic composition of the occupied Palestinian territory and extend Israeli sovereignty over it”. “This is coupled with Israel’s mass forcible transfer and forced displacement of the Palestinians in Gaza through its illegal evacuation orders and indiscriminate use of force,” Moussa says.
‘Only one state has attempted to justify Israel’s actions’
“Only one state has attempted to justify Israel’s actions by contesting the Palestinians’ title to the occupied territories and justifying Israel’s expansion,” Moussa says, without mentioning that country by name. International courts recognise that 1967 wasn’t done in self-defence but was an aggressive war.
“The right to self-determination is a cardinal principle in international law and all states have a duty in respecting and protecting this right. The indefinite occupation breaches the Palestinians’ right to determine their political status and to pursue their economic, social and cultural development,” said Moussa.
Israel’s ‘vicious wholesale destruction of Gaza’
Jasmine Moussa says Egypt “firmly denounces the ongoing obstruction of the Palestinian people’s inalienable, permanent and unqualified right to self-determination”.
“One only needs to look at Israel’s vicious wholesale destruction of Gaza today after years of imposing the medieval methods, a siege and blockade, to realise the extent of Israel’s transgression of this principle,” she said.
“Israel’s prolonged occupation is therefore illegal.”
‘History will judge us for how we respond today’
Egypt’s legal representative concludes her arguments: “For how much longer do the Palestinian people need to wait before they’re able to exercise their legitimate rights under international law? For how much longer will the United Nations manage the impacts of Israeli violations without addressing their root cause?” Jasmine Moussa asked.
“History will judge us for how we respond today.”
She called on the court to recognise that Israel, as the occupying power, is obliged to make reparations and end immediately its occupation and unlawful practices including settlements. “There can be no prosperity, no security, no stability, no peace in the Middle East without upholding justice and the rule of law.”
‘International law cannot be an a la carte menu’: UAE
Lana Nusseibeh, the United Arab Emirates ambassador to the United Nations: “International law cannot be an a la carte menu. It must apply equally to all, and it is all the more essential in the long shadow cast by the Palestinian question and injustice that has persisted for more than seven decades,” she said.
The UAE believes the only path to “just and lasting peace is through the fulfilment of the long-denied right of the Palestinian people to self-determination with an independent and sovereign Palestine based on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital”, Nusseibeh added.
Israeli violations ‘worsening at an alarming pace’: UAE
Nusseibeh says the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories has rapidly deteriorated over the past year. “The level of human suffering for people in Gaza is on a level rarely seen in human history. Israel has imposed a policy of collective punishment on the Palestinian people,” she said.
Last year was by far the deadliest year for Palestinian in the occupied West Bank with the highest level of settler violence recorded by the UN, she added. “I raise these recent developments to underline that the violations at the core of the questions posed by the General Assembly are not static. After decades of violent dehumanisation, dispossession and despair, the breaches resulting from the Israeli occupation are worsening at an alarming pace,” she said.
The UAE’s envoy also underlined the unique character of the city of Jerusalem and said it has “given rise to specific legal obligations including specific guarantees of access”.
Israel hinders access for Muslims and Christians to holy places: UAE
“Israel has, in agreements with Jordan and with the Holy See, committed to the historic status quo and freedom of access to the holy places in Jerusalem. It is, therefore, gravely disconcerting that Israel has taken, and continues to take, measures which undermine the special character of Jerusalem and erase its cultural heritage.”
Israel is in breach of its obligations by “repeatedly interfering with the holy places and hindering freedom of access to them”. Since the start of Israel’s occupation in 1967, “Muslims and Christians have been impeded from worshipping at their holiest sites.”
UAE delivers concluding remarks
The UAE’s Nusseibeh requested the following from the ICJ’s advisory:
- Israel must end its siege of Gaza, let aid in and stop the forcible transfer of the Palestinian population. “In practical terms, it must mean a ceasefire,” she said.
- Israel must dismantle settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories and prevent acts of violence perpetrated by settlers.
- States must cooperate to bring Israel’s breaches to an end.
- “Israel’s administration of East Jerusalem constitutes annexation of territory on which the Palestinian people have the right to self-determination. International law is unequivocal in this respect. All measures by Israel that affect or aim to alter the status of East Jerusalem are null and void and have no legal effect.”
- “Israelis and Palestinians must thrive side by side in their own independent, prosperous and secure states,” she said.
