Today, Thursday, several countries denounced, during the ongoing hearings at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the continued Israeli occupation of the occupied Palestinian territories and its violation of international law.

Today, the court heard the interventions of many representatives of countries, including China, Iraq and Iran, and 52 countries are scheduled to give their opinions during the sessions on the legal consequences of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.

The public hearings began last Monday and will continue for a week, based on the resolution issued by the United Nations General Assembly at the end of 2022.

The decision asked the court to issue a non-binding “advisory opinion” on “the legal consequences arising from Israel’s policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem.”

Israel will not participate in the hearings, but submitted a text dated July 24, 2023 urging the court to decline to issue an opinion on the case.

Most of the countries that have expressed their opinion so far called on Israel to end its occupation of the Palestinian territories, but the United States defended it, and its representative said yesterday that the court should not conclude that Israel is legally obligated to immediately and unconditionally withdraw from the occupied territories.

Armed resistance

China's spokesman said before the International Court of Justice that armed resistance is a right of colonized peoples and does not contradict international law.

He added that Israel does not have the right to defend itself because its occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal, while it reserves the right to take some security measures.

The Chinese spokesman added that achieving justice for the Palestinian issue was long overdue, and that it should not be denied.

China has repeatedly called for an end to the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, and also called for the implementation of the two-state solution leading to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Violation of international law

Other interventions before the International Court of Justice focused on highlighting Israeli violations of international law.

The representative of Iraq said that the occupation is working to completely isolate the Palestinians, and called for Israel to be held accountable for its crimes and to bear its responsibility for violating human rights.

He called on the court to take all measures to preserve a dignified and safe life for the Palestinians in which they enjoy all human rights.

The representative of Iraq expressed his country's deep concern about the human suffering as a result of what he described as the barbaric acts carried out by the Israeli occupation against civilians in the Palestinian territories.

For his part, Iran's representative before the Court of Justice said that the Israeli occupation has and continues to violate the Palestinians' right to self-determination.

He added that the occupation grossly violated international law through demographic changes, noting that Israel has been practicing forced displacement of Palestinians since 1948.

The Iranian representative pointed out that there are two million and 200 thousand in Gaza who live without food, water, or health care.

For his part, the representative of Ireland said that Israel continued to illegally destroy and annex Palestinian lands to expand settlements, noting that, as an occupying state, it is obligated to respect international law.

The Palestinian delegation, headed by Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki, intervened yesterday and stressed in his testimony that the Israeli occupation is a colonial regime that practices apartheid.

The Court of Justice issued a decision on January 26 of last year obligating Israel to take “temporary measures” to protect the Palestinians in Gaza, and to comply with the Genocide Convention, until the content of the lawsuit filed by South Africa accusing Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza is decided. .