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Day 4 of the ICJ hearing, 12 countries presenting arguments today
China calls for two-state solution at ICJ
Ma Xinmin, a Foreign Ministry legal adviser, says that China “has consistently supported the just cause of the Palestinian people in restoring their legitimate right”.
“Chinese President Xi Jinping has stressed on multiple occasions that China calls for a comprehensive ceasefire and the early solution to the question of Palestine on the basis of a two-state solution through negotiation,” he said. “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”.
China’s remarks highlight Palestinians’ right to resist
In its remarks at the ICJ, China said that Palestinians, as the occupied people, have a right to resist, which is a particularly important point because we don’t hear it very often. It also clarified that the court’s opinion would help, not hinder, future or present negotiations and diplomacy.
This is in stark contrast with the position expressed by the US. The Americans insisted yesterday that the two parties will figure it out through diplomacy, but US-brokered negotiations have been biased towards Israel. The US has used Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories to stay relevant in the Middle East and it invests in the occupation of the Palestinian people, using it as leverage. Therefore, the US cannot be considered a neutral mediator.
China counters US point by point at ICJ
China very well listened to what the United States had to say a day earlier, its representative basically countered all the arguments that the US brought forward. The US said the UN and the ICJ should stay out of a bilateral issue between Israel and Palestine. According to China, it was definitely a matter for the UN to talk about the self-determination of the Palestinian people.
And also the argument the US made, Israel’s right to self-defence and that’s why the occupation has to continue. The Chinese representative said Israel is a foreign nation occupying Palestine, so the right to self-defence lies more with the Palestinians than with the Israelis. China said it is actually very important to have the advisory opinion coming from the world’s highest court because it will guide any future negotiations.
Iran says ICJ opinion can set ground for saving thousands of innocent people
Raza Najafi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, says at the ICJ that “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. Najafi then listed a series of measures that, 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
Iran says UNSC responsible for Israeli atrocities
In his closing remarks at the ICJ, Iran’s representative Najafi has said that “the inaction or insufficient action of the Security Council” is one of the “main causes of prolonged occupation of the Palestinians”. “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”. He finished by saying the court was expected to provide its advisory opinion in a manner “that effectively and practically consolidates the rule of law” and brought “hope to Palestinians that justice will ultimately prevail”.
“We should not leave them alone and let them down” he said, when Palestinians need the support and assistance of humanity the most. “This is a collective legal and moral responsibility, and we must fulfil it responsibly,” he added.
Iraq calls on ICJ to stop Israel’s ‘campaign of mass murder’
Hayder Shiya Al-Barrak, the representative of Iraq at the ICJ, calls on the World Court to respect previous court orders against Israel, such as the provisions ordered after South Africa’s genocide case, to “stop the systematic killing machine against the Palestinian people”.
“We hope that the court’s commitment to justice will lead to additional decisions … affirming its dedication to ending the campaign of mass murder and preventing acts of genocide as well as policies of harassment, blockade and starvation against the Palestinian people,” he said.
Israel must be held accountable for ‘war crimes’: Iraq to ICJ
Iraq’s representative has ended his presentation to the ICJ by saying that his country “is deeply concerned about the humanitarian suffering inflicted on the Palestinians throughout the state of Palestine, particularly in the Gaza Strip”.
Al-Barrak highlighted “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”.
Al-Barrak concluded by calling on 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”.
Israel ‘exceeded’ the limits of self-defence after October 7: Ireland
Over at the ICJ, Ireland’s representative opens his presentation by condemning the October 7 attacks by Hamas. Attorney General Rossa Fanning then reminds the court that international law limits the use of force in self-defence to “no more than what is necessary and proportionate”.
Ireland’s view is that Israel has “exceeded these limits” in its military response, he said. “Ireland has repeatedly called for a ceasefire. And we are dismayed by the implications that these latest hostilities in Gaza may have for the prospect of resolving the wider Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“Ireland has been a consistent and vocal supporter of a comprehensive two-state solution to the conflict. We lament the lack of progress made towards achieving that objective” he says.
Israel has ‘altered the demographics of the West Bank’
The “defining feature” of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Ireland’s representative at the ICJ says, has been “continuous settlement activity”. Israel has used different means to take and exercise control for non-military purposes over as much Palestinian land as possible, Fanning states.
“Once in control, Israel has undertaken permanent construction on this land, in particular developing or encouraging the development of permanent settlements, onto which it has incentivised large numbers of its own citizens to transfer. “Through its actions, Israel has fundamentally altered the demographics of the West Bank,” he says.
Israel has committed ‘serious breaches’ of international law: Ireland
Ireland has concluded that “by its prolonged occupation of Palestinian territory, and the settlement activities it has conducted there for more than half a century, Israel has committed serious breaches of a number of peremptory norms of general international law”.
Ireland’s representative adds that Israel also breached the basic rules of international humanitarian law, including the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people and the prohibition of acquisition of territory, by force.
Japan calls for creation of state for Palestinians to live in ‘peace and dignity’
Tomohiro Mikanagi, a legal adviser of Japan’s Foreign Ministry, has told the ICJ that his country believes a “two-state solution where Israel and the future independent Palestinian state live side by side in peace and dignity remains the only viable path for both peoples”.
“Japan emphasises the conflict between the Israeli side and Palestinian side should be solved not through any violent acts or unilateral action but through negotiations and efforts for mutual trust among the parties concerned while respecting international law,” he added.
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. Japan brought two legal specialists to argue this point.
‘No country must be allowed to be above the law’: Jordan
Jordan’s representative at the ICJ, Ayman Safadi, opens his presentation to the court by stating: “Israeli aggression on Gaza, which your esteemed court has indicated warrants examination of plausible genocide, rages on.” This aggression, he said, has to end and those responsible for it must face 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.”
Israeli attacks on holy sites ‘threaten their integrity’: Jordan
Jordan’s second representative, Minister of Justice Ahmad Ziadat, says Israeli violations of Muslim and Christian holy sites run contrary to international law. Ziadet referenced multiple raids, attacks and closures of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
He added that attacks on holy sites in Jerusalem “threaten their integrity”. “They inflame the global religious tension and create confrontations along religious lines,” he said.
Israeli occupation must end ‘as a matter of urgency’: Jordan
Michael Wood, representing Jordan, says at the ICJ hearing that “the only way for the [Palestinian] right to self-determination to be exercised is for the [Israeli] occupation to come to an end”. He also said:
- Israel’s policies and practices violate the law of occupation, which applies throughout the occupied Palestinian territory. 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’s occupation is being carried out for purposes contrary to international law.
- 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.
‘Why does the victim continue to be portrayed as the killer?’: Kuwait
Kuwait’s Ambassador Ali Ahmad Ebraheem al-Dafiri has asked the ICJ to put an end to decades of injustice and declare the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories illegal.
“Why does the victim continue to be portrayed as the killer?” al-Dafiri said as he opened the afternoon session. “The occupying power has waged an illegitimate war on the Palestinians in Gaza characterised by numerous international law violations.” The war, he argued, is the result of 57 years of illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories. “And it must stop,” he added.
