- âIsrael is violating the rights of Muslims and Christians to the freedom of worshipâ
Arab News
The International Court of Justice, the UNâs top court, on Thursday continued its hearing from dozens of states and three international organizations who question the legality of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.
Representatives from countries including China, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon and Libya were expected to deliver their positions during the third day of the hearing at the ICJ, also known as the World Court.
Speakers from the UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia have already demanded Israel end its occupation of the Palestinian territories, with the Kingdomâs envoy to the Netherlands Ziad Al-Atiyah stating Israelâs continued actions were legally indefensible.
Ayman Safadi, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Jordan, said that âIsrael is violating the rights of Muslims and Christians to the freedom of worship by banning Muslims from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque and not protecting priests from humiliation and abuse from Israeli extremists.â
Safadi said that the âoccupation was unlawful, inhumane and it must end.â
âIsrael has been systematically consolidating the occupation, denying the Palestiniansâ rights to self-determination.â
Safadi closed his remarks, saying âPalestinians are being killed in the hundreds every day in Gaza and in the West Bank because Israel is not being held accountable for its war crimes and violation of international law⦠rule that the Israel occupation, the source of all evil, must end.â
Hayder Shiya Al-Barrak, ambassador and head of the legal department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iraq, called on the ICJ to stop the âsystematic killing machineâ against the Palestinian people and the end of âmass murderâ and âgenocide.â
Al-Barrak talked of Israelâs âbarbaric actsâ, including âair strikes and rocket attacks targeting civilians.â
âThese acts constitute war crimes executed with a criminal intentâ and are serious violations of the laws of war, the Iraqi representative said, and added that Israel âmust be held accountableâ.
The Iranian representative said the Israeli occupation force continuously violated Palestinians right to self-determination.
âThe establishment of the Israeli regime was done through a violent process which involved the forcible displacement of native Palestinian people to create a majority Jewish colony in line with the Zionist movement,â Reza Najafi, Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs said.
Najafi listed a series of supposed ongoing violations by the Israeli occupying regime: prolonged occupation; alteration of the demographic composition in the occupied territories; alteration of the character and the status of the Holy City; discriminatory measures and violations of the rights of Palestinian people to permanent sovereignty over their natural resources.
Najafi added that âthe expansion of settlements, segregated roads and barriers as well as checkpoints has created a system of apartheid which is isolating Palestinian communities.âIn his closing remarks, Najafi said âthe inaction or insufficient action of the Security Councilâ was one of the âmain causes of prolonged occupation of the Palestinians,â and it was âparalysed due to the stalemateâ caused by a âcertain permanent member.â
Ma Xinmin, a foreign ministry legal adviser, meanwhile said Beijing âhas consistently supported the just cause of the Palestinian people in restoring their legitimate rightâ.
âIn pursuit of the right to self-determinationâ, he mentioned, the Palestinian peopleâs use of force to âresist foreign oppressionâ and complete the establishment of an independent state is an âinalienable rightâ.