THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The United Nations' top court opens historic hearings Monday on the legality of Israel's 57-year occupation of land sought for a Palestinian state, throwing back the heartstrings of the 15 international judges the decades-long Israeli policy-Palestinian conflict.
As Israel continues its devastating attack on Gaza, six days of hearings are scheduled at the International Court of Justice involving an unprecedented number of countries.
Although the case takes place against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war, it instead focuses on Israel's indefinite occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.
Palestinian representatives, the first to speak on Monday, will argue that the Israeli occupation was illegal because it violated three key principles of international law, the Palestinian legal team told reporters on Wednesday.
They claim that by annexing large parts of the occupied land, Israel violated the prohibition on territorial conquests, violated the Palestinians' right to self-determination and introduced a system of racial discrimination and apartheid.
“We want to hear new words from the court,” said Omar Awadallah, head of the UN agencies department at the Palestinian Foreign Ministry.
“They had to consider the word genocide in the South Africa case,” he said, referring to another case before the court. “Now we want them to think about apartheid.”
Awadallah said an opinion from the court “will provide us with many tools to counter the illegalities of the occupation using peaceful methods and instruments of international law.”
It will likely take months for the court to decide. But experts say that while the decision is not legally binding, it could have a profound impact on international jurisprudence, international aid to Israel and public opinion.
“The case will present the court with a litany of allegations, accusations and grievances that are likely to be uncomfortable and embarrassing for Israel given the war and the already very polarized international environment,” said Yuval Shany, a law professor at the Hebrew University and senior fellow at Israel Democracy Institute.
Israel is not expected to speak at the hearings but could provide a written statement. Shany said Israel would likely justify the continued occupation on security grounds, especially in the absence of a peace deal.
It is likely to reference the Oct. 7 attack in which Hamas-led militants from Gaza killed 1,200 people in southern Israel and dragged 250 hostages back to the area.
“There is a narrative that areas that Israel is withdrawing from, like Gaza, can potentially become very serious security risks,” Shany said. “If anything, October 7 underscored the traditional Israeli security rationale to justify the endless occupation.”
But Palestinians and leading human rights groups say the occupation goes far beyond defensive measures. They say it has turned into an apartheid system, reinforced by settlement construction on occupied lands, giving Palestinians second-class status and aimed at maintaining Jewish hegemony from the Jordan to the Mediterranean. Israel rejects all accusations of apartheid.
The case reaches the court after the UN General Assembly voted by a large majority in December 2022 to ask the World Court for a non-binding opinion on one of the world's longest-running and most sensitive disputes. The proposal was promoted by the Palestinians and vehemently rejected by Israel. 50 countries abstained from voting.
In a written statement before the vote, Israel's U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan called the measure “outrageous,” the U.N. “morally bankrupt and politicized,” and any possible decision by the court “completely illegitimate.”
After the Palestinians present their arguments, 51 countries and three organizations – the League of Arab States, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the African Union – will address the jury in the wood-paneled Great Hall of Justice.
Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Middle East war. The Palestinians strive for an independent state in all three areas. Israel views the West Bank as a disputed territory whose future should be decided through negotiations.
According to the monitoring group Peace Now, 146 settlements have been built, home to more than 500,000 Jewish settlers. According to a pro-settler group, the settler population in the West Bank has grown by more than 15% in the past five years.
Israel has also annexed East Jerusalem and considers the entire city its capital. Another 200,000 Israelis live in settlements in East Jerusalem, which Israel considers neighborhoods of its capital. Palestinian residents of the city face systematic discrimination, making it difficult for them to build new homes or expand existing ones.
The international community largely considers the settlements to be illegal. Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem, where the city's most sensitive holy sites are located, is not internationally recognized.
It is not the first time the court has been asked to give an opinion on Israeli policy or to declare an occupation illegal.
In 2004, the court declared that an Israeli-built separation wall across East Jerusalem and parts of the West Bank was “contrary to international law.” It also called on Israel to stop construction immediately. Israel ignored the ruling.
In a 1971 case that the Palestinian legal team is likely to rely on, the court issued an opinion finding that South Africa's occupation of Namibia was illegal and that South Africa must immediately withdraw from the country.
The court also ordered Israel late last month to do everything in its power to prevent death, destruction and genocide in its campaign in Gaza. South Africa filed a lawsuit accusing Israel of genocide, an accusation Israel denied.
South African representatives are scheduled to speak on Tuesday. The country's ruling party, the African National Congress, has long compared Israel's policies in Gaza and the West Bank to the white-minority apartheid regime in South Africa, which confined most blacks to “homelands” before ending in 1994.
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Frankel reported from Jerusalem.
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