Australia, New Zealand, Canada call for ICJ response from Israel, Gaza ceasefire
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Israel's embassy in Australia on July 26 said it condemned acts of violence against Palestinian communities.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
SYDNEY – Australia, New Zealand and Canada on July 26 called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and asked Israel to respond to a United Nations court, which last week ruled that its occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements there was illegal.
“Israel must listen to the concerns of the international community,” the leaders’ statement said.
“The protection of civilians is paramount and a requirement under international humanitarian law. Palestinian civilians cannot be made to pay the price of defeating Hamas. It must end.”
The leaders also said Israel needed to hold extremist settlers accountable for ongoing acts of violence against Palestinians, reverse its settlement programme in the West Bank and work towards a two-state solution.
Israel’s embassy in Australia on July 26 said it condemned acts of violence against Palestinian communities.
Last week, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) said Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and its settlements there is illegal and should be withdrawn as soon as possible, its strongest findings to date on the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
The leaders’ statement called on Israel to “respond substantively” to the ICJ.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry last week rejected the ICJ opinion as “fundamentally wrong” and one-sided, and repeated its stance that a political settlement in the region can be reached only by negotiations.
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem – areas of historic Palestine that the Palestinians want for a state – in the 1967 Middle East war, and has since built settlements in the West Bank and steadily expanded them.
Israeli leaders argue that the territories are not occupied in legal terms because they are on disputed lands, but the UN and most of the international community regard them as occupied territory.
The joint statement, the second since February, expressed concern about escalating violence between Israel and Hezbollah, and said the risk of a wider regional war made a ceasefire in Gaza all the more urgent.
The statement came hours after US Vice-President Kamala Harris pressured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to help reach a Gaza ceasefire deal that would ease the suffering of Palestinian civilians, striking a tougher tone than President Joe Biden. REUTERS
