Today, Monday, the International Court of Justice in The Hague will resume its final public hearings on the legal consequences arising from Israel’s policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem.

The hearings come in the context of the United Nations General Assembly’s request to obtain an advisory opinion from International Justice on the effects of the Israeli occupation that has continued for more than 57 years.

The public sessions continued for six days between February 19 and 26, to listen to briefings from 52 countries, in addition to the African Union, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the League of Arab States.

Today, the court will hold the last hearings for the briefings of: Turkey, Zambia, the League of Arab States, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the African Union, Spain, Fiji, the Maldives, and the Comoros.

On the first day of the public sessions, the court heard the plea of the State of Palestine, presented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Riyad Al-Maliki, and the legal team of the State of Palestine, which included: Professor Andre Zimmerman, Faul Rackler, Professor Philip Sander, international law expert Ambassador Namira Negm, and a representative. Permanent Palestine at the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, and Alain Pellet.

On the second day, the court heard briefings from: South Africa, Algeria, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, Bangladesh, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, and Chile.

On the third day, the court heard the briefing of: Colombia, Cuba, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, the United States of America, the Russian Federation, France, Gambia, Guyana, and Hungary.

On the fourth day, I listened to briefings presented by: China, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Japan, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Luxembourg, Malaysia, and Mauritius.

On the fifth day, Namibia, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Indonesia, Qatar, the United Kingdom, Slovenia, Sudan, Switzerland, Syria and Tunisia submitted briefs to the Court.

On November 11, 2022, the Fourth Committee of the United Nations General Assembly, the Special Committee on Political Issues and Decolonization, adopted a draft resolution submitted by the State of Palestine to request a legal advisory opinion and advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on the nature of the existence of the Israeli colonial occupation. In the territory of the State of Palestine, including Jerusalem.