In world court hearing, Oman pushes for Palestinian self-determination in face of Israeli 'atrocities'

By Ikram Kouachi

ANKARA (AA) – The inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination are being violated day after day by Israel’s illegal polices of “genocide,” the Gulf state of Oman argued to the International Court of Justice in The Hague in a public hearing on Friday.

“For four months the world has witnessed in Gaza one of the worst atrocities, acts of genocide in modern times. More than 29,000 dead and 68,000 wounded, 2.2 million live under very unbearable conditions, being driven from one place to another in clear violation of international norms,” Sheikh Abdullah bin Salem al Harithi, Oman’s ambassador to the Netherlands, told the world court, referring to the four months since Oct. 7, when Israel’s recent offensive began.

“Violation of the right to self-determination, occupation, settlement, and annexation of Palestinian lands occupied by Israel since 1967 impede the realization of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people,” he added.

“There is an overwhelming international agreement on the existence of the right to self-determination and its continued denial in the occupied Palestinian territories,” he added.

The ambassador stressed that “the court should decide that Israel should put an immediate and unconditional end to this illegal situation, and the need for states to support these efforts.”

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas. The ensuing Israeli war has killed more than 29,500 people and caused mass destruction and shortages of necessities. Nearly 70,000 people have been injured.

Around 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack while over 200 were taken back to Gaza as hostages.

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 is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

Hostilities have continued unabated, however, and aid deliveries remain woefully insufficient to address the humanitarian catastrophe.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi​​​​​​​