US tells ICJ Israel should not be ordered to immediately end occupation
Al Jazeera
US says World Court should not order the unconditional withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Palestinian territories.
The United States has told the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that it should not order the unconditional withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Palestinian territories without security guarantees.
The ICJ, also known as the World Court, is hearing from about 50 countries throughout the week to present their arguments on the issue of a nonbinding opinion on the legal consequences of the Israeli occupation.
Previous speakers including South Africa and Saudi Arabia have demanded that Israel end its occupation of the Palestinian territories, which came after its victory in the six-day Arab-Israeli war in 1967.
But on Wednesday, the acting legal adviser for the US State Department, Richard Visek, took a different approach.
“The court should not find that Israel is legally obligated to immediately and unconditionally withdraw from occupied territory,” Visek said.
