The US has informed the Worldwide Courtroom of Justice (ICJ) that it mustn’t order the unconditional withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Palestinian territories with out safety ensures.
The ICJ, often known as the World Courtroom, is listening to from about 50 international locations all through the week to current their arguments on the difficulty of a nonbinding opinion on the authorized penalties of the Israeli occupation.
Earlier audio system together with South Africa and Saudi Arabia have demanded that Israel finish its occupation of the Palestinian territories, which got here after its victory within the six-day Arab-Israeli conflict in 1967.
However on Wednesday, the performing authorized adviser for the US State Division, Richard Visek, took a distinct method.
“The court docket mustn’t discover that Israel is legally obligated to instantly and unconditionally withdraw from occupied territory,” Visek mentioned.
“Any motion in the direction of Israel’s withdrawal from the West Financial institution and Gaza requires consideration of Israel’s very actual safety wants.
“We have been all reminded of these safety wants on October 7, and so they persist. Regrettably, these wants have been ignored by most of the contributors,” he added, referring to the Hamas assault on Israel that killed not less than 1,139 folks, in response to an Al Jazeera tally based mostly on official Israeli figures. Round 250 others have been seized as hostages.
Israel responded to the assault with a devastating assault on Gaza that has killed greater than 29,000 folks, in response to Palestinian authorities. The assault has displaced greater than 80 p.c of the inhabitants and diminished giant components of the territory to rubble.
The ICJ’s 15-judge panel has been requested to overview Israel’s “occupation, settlement and annexation … together with measures aimed toward altering the demographic composition, character and standing of the Holy Metropolis of Jerusalem, and from its adoption of associated discriminatory laws and measures”.
Visek urged the judges to stay to the established United Nations framework for a two-state resolution.
“It is crucial that the court docket retains in thoughts the stability the [UN] Safety Council and the Basic Meeting have decided is critical to offer one of the best likelihood for sturdy peace”, he mentioned.
The deal with comes after the US vetoed a draft decision calling for a right away ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on the UN Safety Council on Tuesday.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the UN, mentioned the decision was rejected as a result of it might have an effect on peace negotiations on securing a brief ceasefire and trade of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners by the US, Egypt, Israel and Qatar.
Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst, Marwan Bishara, mentioned on Wednesday that the US’s authorized arguments on the ICJ have been “sober and complicated, however this doesn’t make them any much less dishonest”.
“The general message of the American consultant is that the court docket must be on the service of the American and Israeli negotiation technique – not that the American and Israeli negotiation technique ought to abide by the court docket’s ruling,” he mentioned.
“However a World Courtroom can’t be on the disposal of the US. It’s in any other case unclear why a possible ruling by the court docket that the occupation is prohibited could be a burden on the negotiations,” Bishara mentioned.
Egypt, which is concerned in a mediator function within the negotiations between Israel and Hamas, delivered its stance on the legality of Israel’s occupation on Wednesday and referred to as it a “continued violation of worldwide legislation”.
“The implications of Israel’s extended occupation are clear and there could be no peace, no stability, no prosperity with out upholding the rule of legislation,” mentioned Egyptian overseas ministry authorized adviser Jasmine Moussa.
Russia and France additionally introduced their arguments on Wednesday.
Vladimir Tarabrin, Russia’s ambassador to the Netherlands, mentioned Israeli settlements within the occupied West Financial institution have been in breach of worldwide legislation and “are opposite to the precept of inadmissibility of acquisition of territory by drive.”
He added that the continued Israeli occupation was blocking Palestinians’ proper to self-determination and {that a} two-state resolution with an “unbiased and viable” Palestinian state could be one of the best ways to convey “an finish to Israel’s violations, creating ensures of their non-repetition and redressing the injury”.
France’s consultant, Diego Colas, additionally condemned Israel’s settlement coverage and mentioned Paris would “by no means recognise the unlawful annexation of territories within the West Financial institution”.
Israel, which isn’t taking part within the oral hearings, submitted a written contribution describing the questions the court docket had been requested as “prejudicial” and “tendentious”.
Israel has lengthy argued that the territories are formally occupied on the idea that they have been captured from Jordan and Egypt within the 1967 conflict fairly than from a sovereign Palestine.