90+ states express rejection of Israeli measures against Palestinians

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
17 Jan 11:32
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More than 90 countries sign a letter calling on the Israeli occupation to end punitive measures against Palestinians.

The UNGA Fourth Committee votes on measures addressing the Israeli occupation at UN headquarters in New York, November 11, 2022 (AP/Jeenah Moon)

More than 90 countries signed a letter on Monday calling on the Israeli occupation to reverse punitive measures taken against the Palestinian Authority (PA) for taking recourse to the UN.

At the PA's request, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) late last month passed a resolution requesting an opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the legal implications of “Israel's” illegal occupation of Palestine and its "practices and settlement activities affecting the rights of the Palestinian people," a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government took office.

The General Assembly voted 87-26 with 53 abstentions on the resolution. The ICJ is the highest UN court dealing with international issues. Its decisions are binding, but it has no authority to enforce them.

Before the vote, the Israeli occupation attempted to exert strained efforts to incite and lure several countries to prevent the resolution to be passed.

As a punitive measure, the Israeli occupation government announced on January 7 that it will withhold some PA revenues and revoke the PA Foreign Minister’s special travel permit.

Among the retaliatory measures was seizing $39 million in tax revenues collected on behalf of the PA and transferring them to Israelis, deducting from the payments that the PA grants to the families of Palestinian martyrs and prisoners, and freezing Palestinian construction in the occupied West Bank.

The letter was signed by representatives of Arab nations and the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation and 37 other countries, including European countries, as well as Brazil, Japan, Mexico, South Africa, and South Mexico.

"Regardless of each country’s position on the resolution, we reject punitive measures in response to a request for an advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice, and more broadly in response to a General Assembly resolution, and call for their immediate reversal," the letter read.

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— State of Palestine (@Palestine_UN) January 16, 2023

After signing the letter, Germany’s UN mission said it "agrees on the rejection of punitive measures in response to the resolution."

Likewise, Denmark’s UN mission stressed that "seeking an advisory opinion of the ICJ cannot and should not be a cause of punitive measures. For anybody. Anytime."

Belgium and France also issued statements reaffirming their commitment to "international law and multilateralism."

In the same context, a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres indicated that he "notes with deep concern the recent Israeli measures against the Palestinian Authority," underlining that there should "be no retaliation with respect to the Palestinian Authority in relation to the International Court of Justice."

In last month's resolution, the UNGA asked the ICJ to give an urgent advisory opinion on the "legal consequences of Israeli occupation, settlement, and annexation … including measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character, and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and from its adoption of related discriminatory legislation and measures."

The UNGA resolution further requests that the ICJ advise on how those policies and practices "impact the legal status of the occupation" and what legal ramifications this status has for all countries and the UN.

It is noteworthy that the ICJ last ruled on "Israel's" occupation in 2004 when it determined that the separation wall in the occupied West Bank and East Al-Quds was illegal.