THE HAGUE - Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki on Feb 19 demanded an immediate end to Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian Territories at the start of hearings on the legal status of the disputed land at the United Nations’ top court.

More than 50 states will present arguments before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague until Feb 26, following a 2022 request from the UN General Assembly for an advisory, or non-binding, opinion on the occupation.

Israeli leaders have long disputed that the territories are formally occupied on the basis that they were captured from Jordan and Egypt during a 1967 war rather than from a sovereign Palestine.

Mr Al-Maliki accused Israel of subjecting Palestinians to decades of discrimination and apartheid – accusations Israel has rejected – arguing that they have been left with the choice of “displacement, subjugation, or death”.

“The only solution consistent with international law is for this illegal occupation to come to an immediate, unconditional and total end,” he said.

The judges are expected to take several months to deliberate before issuing their opinion.

While Israel has ignored such opinions in the past, the advisory opinion could pile on political pressure over Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza. The offensive has killed about 29,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, since Oct 7.

Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem – areas of historic Palestine which the Palestinians want for a state – in a 1967 war. It withdrew from Gaza in 2005, but, along with neighbouring Egypt, still controls its borders.

‘Moral, political and legal imperative’

The hearing is part of Palestinian efforts to get international legal institutions to examine Israel’s conduct. These have stepped up since Israel’s assaults on Gaza in response to the Oct 7 Hamas attacks, which killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies.

Mr Al-Maliki reiterated accusations of Israeli genocide in Gaza, which Israel firmly rebuffed at separate hearings in The Hague in January.

“The genocide under way in Gaza is a result of decades of impunity and inaction. Ending Israel’s impunity is a moral, political and legal imperative,” he said.

Israel has said it faces an existential threat from Hamas militants and other groups and is acting in self-defence.

The hearings also come amid mounting concerns about an Israeli ground offensive against the Gaza city of Rafah, a last refuge for more than a million Palestinians after they fled to the south of the enclave to avoid Israeli assaults.

It is the second time the UN General Assembly has asked the ICJ, also known as the World Court, for an advisory opinion related to the occupied Palestinian Territories.

In July 2004, the court found that Israel’s separation wall in the West Bank violated international law and should be dismantled, though it still stands to this day.

Judges have now been asked to review Israel’s “occupation, settlement and annexation... including measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and from its adoption of related discriminatory legislation and measures”.

Among countries scheduled to participate in the hearings are the United States – Israel’s strongest supporter – China, Russia, South Africa and Egypt. Israel will not participate, although it has sent written observations.

The hearings are part of a Palestinian push to get international legal institutions to examine Israel’s conduct. Since 1967, Israel has greatly expanded Jewish settlements in the West Bank – an action Palestinians say compromises the creation of a viable Palestinian state.

Israel has also annexed East Jerusalem, in a move not recognised by most countries.

The General Assembly also asked the ICJ’s 15-judge panel to advise on how those policies and practices “affect the legal status of the occupation”, and what legal consequences arise for all countries and the UN from this status.

The advisory opinion proceedings are separate from the genocide case that South Africa filed at the World Court against Israel for its alleged violations in Gaza of the 1948 Genocide Convention.

In late January, the ICJ in that case ordered Israel to do everything in its power to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza.

The outcome of the advisory opinion would not be legally binding but would carry “great legal weight and moral authority”, according to the ICJ. REUTERS