Top UN court to open hearings into Israel’s occupation of lands sought for a Palestinian state.
ABC News
Historic hearings are opening at the United Nations' top court into the legality of Israel’s 57-year occupation of lands sought for a Palestinian state
THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- Historic hearings are opening on Monday at the United Nations’ top court into the legality of Israel’s 57-year occupation of lands sought for a Palestinian state.
Palestinian representatives will speak first as the International Court of Justice begins hearing legal arguments following a request submitted by the U.N. General Assembly for a non-binding advisory opinion into Israel's policies in the occupied territories.
Though the case opens at the court's Great Hall of Justice against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war, it focuses instead on Israel’s open-ended control over the occupied West Bank, the Gaza Strip and annexed east Jerusalem.
The Palestinian legal team will tell the panel of international judges that Israel has violated the prohibition on territorial conquest by annexing large swaths of occupied land and the Palestinians’ right to self-determination, and has imposed a system of racial discrimination and apartheid.
“We want to hear new words from the court,” said Omar Awadallah, the head of the U.N. organizations department in the Palestinian Foreign Ministry.
