Israel 'actively preventing' full realization of Palestinians' right to self-determination, Slovenia tells UN court

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - Israel, as the occupying power for many decades, is actively preventing the full realization of the Palestinians' right to self-determination, Slovenia's delegation to the International Court of Justice said Friday.'''''''''''''''''

Presenting Slovenia's oral statements in advisory proceedings on the legal consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, Daniel Muller, said the policies are not in compliance with the guarantees and principles of international law.

"The right of the Palestinian people to self-determination is fundamentally hobbled by the prolonged occupation of Palestinian territory by the occupying power," Muller said during public hearings at The Hague.

He said the practices and policies implemented by Israel in occupied Palestinian territory do not comply with the "elementary obligations of international human rights law, or international humanitarian law."

"Israel has the obligation to put an end to its internationally wrongful acts, and to all the practices preventing the Palestinian people from fully exercising its right to self-determination," he noted.

Muller stressed that Israel "must fully carry out" its international obligations in particular, its obligation to respect and promote the self-determination of the Palestinian people in full compliance with international law and the harm caused by these internationally wrongful acts must be fully repaired.

- Case brought to ICJ

The public hearings started Monday in the Hague following the UN General Assembly's request for an advisory opinion on the legal consequences arising from policies and practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.

More than 50 countries are presenting their arguments.

South Africa brought a genocide case against Israel to the ICJ in late December and asked it for emergency measures to end the bloodshed in Gaza, where more than 29,000 Palestinians have been killed since Oct. 7.

The court in January ordered Israel to take "all measures within its power" to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza but fell short of ordering a cease-fire.

It also ordered Israel to take "immediate and effective" measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip.

A cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group, Hamas, on Oct. 7 killed an estimated 1,200 people, but the ensuing Israeli offensive into 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.

Despite international outcry, Israel now plans a ground invasion of Rafah, which holds 1.4 million refugees.

For the first time since its establishment in 1948, Israel is being tried before the ICJ, the highest judicial body in the UN, on charges of committing the crime of "genocide" against Palestinians in Gaza.