Top U.N. court begins hearings into Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands
The top court of the United Nations has held its first day of hearings into Israel’s decadeslong occupation of lands sought for a Palestinian state.
The Palestinian foreign minister accused Israel of apartheid and urged the court to declare that its occupation is illegal and must end immediately to maintain any hope of a two-state future. Pointing to the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, Riyad al-Maliki said that “More than 3.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank, including in Jerusalem, are subjected to colonization of their territory and racist violence that enables it.”
Israel is not scheduled to speak during the hearings, but could submit a written statement. In a statement on X this morning, Israel’s foreign ministry accused Palestinian leader of using the international legal system as “a political tool to attack Israel” and urged the court to rule that Palestinians should instead return to direct negotiations over the future of Gaza, the occupied West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem.
The hearings will continue for a week at the International Court of Justice’s headquarters in The Hague, the Netherlands, where over 52 states including the U.S. are expected to take part in the oral proceedings.
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