'Israel' urges world leaders to prevent ICJ opinion on occupation
The Israeli occupation is pleading for help from several allies to prevent the UNGA from consulting the ICJ on the Israeli occupation and illegal annexation of Palestinian land.
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Palestinian protesters trying to evade tear gas during clashes with Israeli occupation forces following a demonstration against Israeli airstrikes on Gaza Strip, near the West Bank illegal settlement of "Beit El", Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022 (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
Israeli occupation Prime Minister Yair Lapid sent a letter addressing more than 50 world leaders, calling on them to prevent the UN General Assembly vote on an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on the Israeli occupation of Palestine, Lapid's office said Tuesday.
The Fourth Committee of the UNGA, the Special Political and Decolonization Committee, approved a draft resolution entitled "Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem," which, if adopted by the UNGA, the body would have to request an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on the legal consequences of the Israeli violations of Palestinian rights.
The rights the resolution would tackle are particularly those relating to the Israeli annexation and occupation of Palestinian land.
"Prime Minister Yair Lapid, yesterday [Monday, 28 November 2022], sent a letter to over 50 world leaders calling on them to exert their influence on the Palestinian Authority in order to prevent the General Assembly vote on an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice" on the Israeli occupation of Palestine, the premier's office said.
The resolution, according to Lapid, is the culmination of the attempts to delegitimize the very so-called "existence" of "Israel".
He also stressed that the status of the territories occupied by "Tel Aviv" should be determined by direct negotiations between the Israeli occupation and the Palestinian Authority.
The letter was sent to the heads of state of the United Kingdom, France, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Latvia, Georgia, Brazil, Uruguay, Peru, and Vietnam, among others.
Nearly two weeks ago, the Israeli occupation government issued an order to loot around 230,000 square meters of land in Beit Lahm in the southern occupied West Bank to expand its illegal settlements on Palestinian land.
The Israeli occupation forces delivered a military order to seize around 320 dunams of land in the areas of Al-Khader, Nahalin, and Artas in the city in order to expand the illegal settlements of "Daniel", "Eliezer", and "Efrat", in violation of the international law and United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.
In October, Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian activist who monitors Israeli settlement in the northern West Bank, indicated that Israeli occupation authorities were planning to steal some 616 dunams (616,000 square meters) of Palestinian-owned land in Qaryout, Al-Lubban Ash-Sharqiya, and As-Sawiya in favor of the expansion of the illegal settlement of "Eli", completely disregarding the UNSC Resolution 2334, which considered illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and Al-Quds as "a flagrant violation under international law."
The European Union had previously stated that it does not recognize Israeli authority over the West Bank, noting that "Israel's" settlement expansion is a dangerous breach of international law.
In late March, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics pointed out that in the year 2021, Palestinians witnessed a significant increase in the construction and expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, as it was approved to build more than 12,000 colonial units, including about 9,000 on the lands of Qalandia Airport.
According to the bureau, the Israeli occupation authorities demolished 1,058 Palestinian buildings, including 353 housing units and 705 facilities for various uses.
Read more: Israeli settler group raises millions for illegal West Bank outposts
In a similar vein, 198 Palestinian and international organizations on Monday called on the International Criminal Court to investigate Israeli crimes, demanding public condemnation amid an increase in Israeli murders and aggression against Palestinians.
The organizations submitted a memorandum addressing Karim Khan, the ICC's prosecutor, and Silvia Fernandez de Gourmandi, the ICC's president of the Assembly of States Parties. The memorandum calls for public condemnation of "Israel's" decision to designate Palestinian civil society organizations as "terrorist".
The organizations demanded that Israeli crimes committed against Palestinians during the unjustified aggression on Gaza Strip last August be included in the probe.
As justice delayed is justice denied, the organizations also stressed the need to accelerate the investigation process; the report should also include Israeli crimes against humanity, including apartheid, and should issue proactive statements to prevent Israeli war crimes, and prosecution pursuant to the Rome Statute's Article 9.
The Israeli decision to "outlaw" several Palestinian rights groups as "terror organizations" was "like an execution" designed to stop them from probing abuses, the head of one of the bodies told UN investigators earlier this month.
These designations and their consequences are now the focus of a series of public hearings sponsored by a high-level team of UN investigators exploring Israeli human rights violations.
This form of a public hearing has only occurred twice before, with one held in 2009 during an investigation also involving "Israel".
