Egypt to submit oral argument before World Court on Israeli practices in Palestinian territories

By Ibrahim al-Khazen

CAIRO (AA) – Egypt said Sunday it will give an oral argument before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Feb. 21 regarding Israeli practices in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The Hague-based court is set to hear a Palestinian request for an advisory opinion on the legal consequences of the 57-year-long Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories next week.

A total of 52 countries will present their legal arguments before the UN court between Feb. 19 and 26, while Israel will be absent.

“Egypt will give an oral argument on the Israeli practices in the occupied Palestinian territories since 1967,” Dia Rashwan, head of the State Information Service, said in a statement.

He said two Egyptian memoranda presented to the court will highlight the Israeli policies of annexing lands, demolishing homes, expelling, deporting and displacing Palestinians, in violation of the right to self-determination of Palestinians and the prohibition of the seizure of lands by armed force.

They will also express Egypt’s rejection of the Israeli policies of persecution and racial discrimination, which blatantly contravene the principles of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, Rashwan added.

The Egyptian official said Egypt will call on the UN court to confirm Israel’s responsibility for all illegal acts and demand an immediate withdrawal of its forces from the occupied Palestinian territories, including the city of Jerusalem.

Egypt will also call for compensating the Palestinians for the damage incurred as a result of these policies and practices, he added.

In an advisory opinion in 2004, the World Court called on Israel to remove its separation barrier in the occupied West Bank and compensate affected Palestinians. Tel Aviv, however, did not implement the court verdict.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 Hamas attack, killing nearly 29,000 people and causing mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the ICJ, which in an interim ruling this January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala