Top UN court breaks silence on Israeli occupation

"In a world of constant and increasing violations of international law, it is our moral duty to reaffirm our unwavering commitment to all ICJ decisions in a consistent manner, irrespective of the subject in question ...”

Josep Borrell
Foreign Policy Chief
European Union

TEHRAN, 23 July(MNA) – The 15-judge panel of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has slammed the Israeli occupation of Palestine as “illegal," breaking the deafening silence against continued Zionist crimes in the Gaza Strip.

Middle East Eye quoted the EU's bloc’s Foreign Policy chief Josep Borrell as saying.

Although the ICJ's opinion on the crimes of the Zionist regime is nonbinding, over 80-page opinion shows the international community has to recognize the rights of the Palestinian nation.

The unprecedented step indicates the world can no longer remain silent in dealing with the crimes committed by the regime.

The health ministry in Gaza said that the death toll from the ongoing Israeli bombardments and shooting attacks, which started on October 7, climbed to 38,983 martyrs and the number of the wounded surged to 89,727 people.

In a historic move, the UN court has ordered the Israeli regime to end its occupation of the Palestinian territories “as rapidly as possible” while also calling on Tel Aviv to make full reparations for its “internationally wrongful acts.”

The court found multiple breaches of international law by Zionists including activities that amounted to apartheid.

“The court considers that the violations by Israel of the prohibition of the acquisition of territory by force and of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination have a direct impact on the legality of the continued presence of Israel, as an occupying power, in the occupied Palestinian territory,” Nawaf Salam, the president of the ICJ, said while reading the court’s opinion on Friday.

“The sustained abuse by Israel of its position as an occupying power, through annexation and an assertion of permanent control over the occupied Palestinian territory and continued frustration of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, violates fundamental principles of international law and renders Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territory unlawful,” Salam continued.

As expected, the Israeli regime, which normally considers the United Nations and international tribunals as unfair and biased, had not sent a legal team to the hearings.

The office of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed a "historic" decision by the ICJ.

"The presidency welcomes the decision of the International Court of Justice, considers it a historic decision, and demands that Israel be compelled to implement it," it said in a statement on its official news agency shortly after the ruling was made public.

Condemnations pour in in wake of ICJ ruling on the Israeli occupation

South Africa which has already filed a lawsuit against the Zionists' crimes before the ICJ, lauded the ruling.

Minister of International Relations and Cooperation in South Africa Ronald Lamola said the ruling “affirms South Africa’s long-standing position that the occupation by Israel of Palestinian territory remains unlawful under international law”.

“There is now an additional legal obligation for all states to end complicity in Israel’s illegal actions and to act to ensure respect for international law,” he said in a statement.

In a related development, the Bolivian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on the UN and its member states to “take appropriate measures to stop the crimes being committed in the Gaza Strip and guarantee Palestine’s right to self-determination”.

Bolivia cut ties with the regime in the early days of the war. It later became the first Latin American country to back a separate genocide case brought against Israel by South Africa at the ICJ.

"In a world of constant and increasing violations of international law, it is our moral duty to reaffirm our unwavering commitment to all ICJ decisions in a consistent manner, irrespective of the subject in question," Middle East Eye quoted the EU's bloc’s Foreign Policy chief Josep Borrell as saying.

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas said the decision “affirmed the illegitimacy of the Zionist occupation and the need to end it.”

“We call on the international community to embrace these decisions, bypass the American will [to protect the regime against such decisions], and work to compel the fascist occupation to implement them and comply immediately”.

A comprehensive referendum most effective solution to the Palestinian issue

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani has reiterated that Iran’s proposal for holding a comprehensive referendum with the participation of all the Muslim, Jewish, and Christian citizens of Palestine provides the most effective solution to the Palestinian issue.

Referring to a recent verdict by the ICJ which says that the Zionist occupation of the Palestinian lands and building settlements in the territories has been illegal, Kanaani noted on Saturday that the basic rights of the Palestinian people have been breached over the past years, especially since the emergence of the “child-killing regime of Israel”.

He added that committing genocide, as well as crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza over the past months, has systematically exacerbated the violation of the Palestinian nation’s right to self-determination.

The spokesman noted that the international community, especially the UN Security Council, is expected to take practical measures to put an end to the Zionist occupation and aggression against the Palestinians.