Israel accused of breaking international law as ICJ hearings on West Bank conclude

The world’s top court on Monday concluded six days of hearings into the legality of Israel’s 56-year control over the West Bank and East Jerusalem, with most voices arguing that Israel was in violation of international law and calling for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

“The real obstacle to peace is obvious — the deepening occupation by Israel of the Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, and failure to implement the two-state vision, Israel and Palestine living side by side,” Times of Israel quoted Turkey’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmet Yildiz telling the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

The hearings were convened following a plea from the UN General Assembly for a non-binding assessment regarding the legality of Israel’s policies. The court has stated it will deliver its opinion in a timely manner. Typically, advisory opinions are published about six months after oral hearings.

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Fiji was one of a handful of countries to argue that the court should refuse the request and directly mentioned the Hamas attacks that set off the war in Gaza, which saw thousands of terrorists burst into Israel, murdering about 1,200 people and taking 253 others hostage, mainly civilians, amid horrific acts of brutality and sexual abuse.

“The events of 7 October 2023 have shown us what could happen if there were a complete and unconditional withdrawal without the necessary arrangements in place to guarantee the security of Israel,” the report quoted Filipo Tarakinikini as saying on behalf of the South Pacific island nation.

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The United States also cautioned the court against issuing an opinion calling for an immediate withdrawal from the territories.

Acting US State Department legal adviser Richard Visek said last week the judges should not seek to resolve the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict “through an advisory opinion addressed to questions focusing on the acts of only one party.”

Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riad Malki had previously urged the 15-judge panel to uphold the Palestinian right to self-determination and to declare “that the Israeli occupation is illegal and must end immediately, totally and unconditionally.”

Though the hearings were held against the backdrop of Israel’s ongoing war with the Hamas terror group in Gaza, they ignored this round of conflict and focused instead on Israel’s policies in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.

Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem — which includes the Old City — from Jordan during the 1967 Six Day War. In later years Israel annexed East Jerusalem in a move not recognized internationally, but it has not done so with the West Bank.

The peace process has repeatedly stalled because of Palestinian terror attacks, Israel’s expansion of settlements in the West Bank and the inability of the two sides to agree on issues like final borders, the status of Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees.

With inputs from agencies