A record 52 nations are due to testify at proceedings on Monday on the legal ramifications of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory since 1967 before the UN’s top court.
In a week-long session, judges from the United States, Russia, and China will address them at the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) permanent home, the Peace Palace in The Hague.
In December 2022, the UN General Assembly asked the ICJ for a non-binding “advisory opinion” on the “legal consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.”
The ICJ’s ruling, however non-binding, comes as international legal pressure on Israel over the Gaza War, which was launched by the horrific Hamas attacks on October 7, is intensifying.
The proceedings are unrelated to a well-known lawsuit filed by South Africa, which claims that Israel is carrying out genocides in the Gaza Strip while on an offensive.
In that case, the ICJ decided in January that Israel had to take all reasonable steps to avert genocide and permit humanitarian aid to reach Gaza; nonetheless, the ruling did not call for an immediate ceasefire.
It denied South Africa’s request to impose more sanctions on Israel on Friday, but it emphasized that the decision must be implemented in its entirety.
