The United Nations’ top court on Monday heard the final day of arguments over the legality of Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian territories, hearings that have added pressure on Israel at a time when attention is focused on the war in Gaza.
The hearings, which began last Monday, are the first time that the tribunal, the International Court of Justice, has been asked to give an advisory opinion on the issue, which has been the subject of years of debates and resolutions at the United Nations. The court will likely take months before issuing an opinion.
Last week’s sessions, held at the Peace Palace in The Hague, focused on the legality of what Palestinian representatives said was Israel’s “prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation” of the Palestinian territories, particularly the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The representatives, including a team of prominent lawyers, said Israel has abused Palestinian rights with impunity. Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said Israel had subjected Palestinians to decades of discrimination, leaving them with the option of “displacement, subjugation or death.”
Israel has not appeared at the hearings, but in a written communication it rejected the issues raised in the process as partial.
The six-day hearings, featuring speakers from more than 50 countries, are part of a concerted global effort to examine the legality of Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians.
The proceedings have been given urgency by Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Gaza health authorities say Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 29,000 people, most of them women and children, and caused what the United Nations considers a humanitarian disaster.
Since the war began, Israeli forces have also detained hundreds of Palestinians in raids in the West Bank. Deadly violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers has increased, and Palestinian attacks against Israelis have also increased.
The United States has been a strong supporter of Israel internationally and last Wednesday told the court that Israel faced “very real security needs.” He also vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire, arguing that the motion could have disrupted negotiations to release hostages held by Hamas and secure a temporary cessation of fighting.
But Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has presented a dilemma for President Biden’s administration, which has continued to provide military aid to Israel while expressing growing concern about its treatment of the Palestinians.
Biden has said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has been “over the top” in its conduct of the war in Gaza. And on Friday, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said the U.S. government was reversing a Trump administration policy and would now consider new Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories “inconsistent with international law.”
Monday’s final day of hearings at the U.N. tribunal will include arguments from representatives of Turkey, Spain, the African Union and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which represents 57 member states, most of them Muslim-majority countries.