Feb 19, 2024. Posted by Balkan Periscope - Hellas
A hearing
on Israel's policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian Territories is
beginning at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the United Nations'
highest court, on Monday.
The UN General Assembly asked the court for an opinion on the legal consequences of Israel's actions towards Palestinians in the occupied territories in late 2022, before the beginning of the latest Gaza war last year, unleashed by the October 7 attacks by Palestinian extremist organization Hamas and other militant groups in Israel.
Fifty-two
states and three international organizations are taking part in the hearing.
The Palestinians are to begin on Monday.
Israel took
control of the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967. Today, around 700,000
Israeli settlers live there among 3 million Palestinians. The Palestinians
claim the territories for an independent state with East Jerusalem as its
capital.
In January,
the ICJ ordered Israel to prevent genocide in the Gaza Strip and do everything
in its power to protect the lives of the Palestinians amid its ongoing military
operation there launched following the October 7 attacks.
This also
means Israel must allow more humanitarian aid to enter the besieged strip,
according to the preliminary ruling in the case brought by South Africa
accusing Israel of violating the Genocide Convention.
Israel
firmly rejects the accusations regarding its military operation, triggered by
the worst massacre in Israel's history, carried out by terrorists from Hamas
and other extremist Palestinian organizations in southern Israel. They murdered
more than 1,200 people and kidnapped 250 others to the Gaza Strip.
Israel's
ground and air offensive in Gaza has led to the deaths of 28,985 Palestinians
and more than 68,880 people injured.
dpa
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