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SvennoJ on 22 February 2024
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Libya presents legal arguments at ICJ

Libya’s representative, Ahmed El Jahani, made the following remarks at the ICJ:

  • 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.
  • The Fourth Geneva Convention applies to the occupied Palestinian territories, despite Israel’s claims to the contrary.
  • The prohibition against the threat or use of force is enshrined in the UN Charter and is a cornerstone of the international legal order.
  • The right to self-determination is one of the essential principles of contemporary international law.
  • All states are called to ensure that the right to self-determination is upheld.

Lebanon urges ICJ to help bring peace in Middle East

Abdel Sattar Issa, Lebanon’s representative, has said his country urges the ICJ “to help in giving justice to the Palestinian people so we can have peace in the Middle East”. He also said:

  • 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,” Issa said.
  • “Were Israel to seize its occupation of the Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and accept the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, all the other violations would disappear,” Issa said.
  • “Since 1967, Israel has been committing a crime of aggression, illegally occupying territories before annexing them.”
  • “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.”

Israel’s ‘colonisation activities’ are not self-defence: Luxembourg

Luxembourg’s Alain Germeaux has made the following remarks at the ICJ:

  • The right to self-determination is a fundamental human right.
  • Settlements greatly undermine the rights of the Palestinian people to a viable Palestinian state, “whose prospects recede with the continuing infringement of the integrity of the Palestinian territory.”
  • The rules of occupation require that occupation is temporary and that no permanent changes are made changes to the occupied territory. This has not been the case, and the principle of the protection of people is also not being respected.
  • 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.

Israel must immediately end occupation and offer compensation: Malaysia to ICJ

Dato’ Seri Utama Haji Mohamad bin Haji Hasan, Malaysia’s foreign minister, has told the ICJ that 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],” he said.

“Israel must also offer compensation for all the material and moral damage caused by the breach of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination,” he added. Malaysia’s representative also said:

  • As I speak, Gaza is facing devastation … The West Bank is also at risk. Safeguarding Palestine from destruction is crucial, especially in light of Israel’s noncompliance with the provisional measures of this court …
  • The Palestinian people have long suffered dehumanisation, demonisation, brutal collective punishment. They have endured and are still enduring the denial of their right to self-determination due to the policies and practices of Israel in the OPT. It is incumbent on each of us to do our part in ending their decades-long suffering.
  • With a firm belief in this court’s rule, as the custodian of international law, we remain confident that justice and peace will prevail for the Palestinian people.
  • Israel’s transfer of settlers to the OPT constitutes a war crime. Israel’s policies and practices that aim to change the demographic composition of the OPT – along with the creation of enclaves and demolition of Palestinians’ homes; and the limitation of their freedom of movement, including the blockade and siege of the Gaza Strip – constitute violations of international humanitarian law and the international human rights law.

Mauritius draws parallel with British colonisation in address to ICJ

Representatives of Mauritius have made the following remarks at the ICJ:

  • 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.
  • The prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the territories occupied since 1967 must end and all states and the UN have a duty to ensure that Israel respects Palestinians’ right to self-determination.
  • Mauritius believes the court’s opinion would be beneficial to negotiations and to achieving a two-state solution.


Tomorrow: Namibia, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Indonesia, Qatar, UK, Slovenia, Sudan, Switzerland, Syria and Tunesia

Countries combat US arguments in remarks before the ICJ

There is a consensus today. Countries from the West, the East, the North, the South, all agree on one thing: that this occupation is illegal and that is has to stop, that it turns Palestinians into second-class citizens, that discriminatory rules apply to the Palestinian people, imposed by Israel.

Today we have heard already from 31 countries making their arguments here at the highest court. What also stood out is that all the countries who have been speaking today, countries like Jordan, Ireland, and China, have been countering the arguments brought by the United States, that this isn’t the right forum to have an opinion, that the highest court shouldn’t rule on this matter because it’s a bilateral matter between Israel and the Palestinians.

But countries are saying that this court is now in a position to speak, because all of the negotiations, all of the diplomatic efforts that we’ve seen over the years, have completely failed.