Ismaeel Naar
The National / July 20, 2024
The Arab League said the decision constitutes ‘a key legal pillar in boosting the Palestinian legitimacy’.
Jordan’s Foreign Minister welcomed the International Court of Justice’s decision that Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territories and its settlement policy are unlawful.
“It is a clear ruling on the side of Palestinian people’s right to justice, freedom and statehood,” said Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi in a post on X. “The end of occupation is the only path to peace that will guarantee the rights and security of all.”
Along with Egypt, Jordan is one of the few Middle East countries with established diplomatic ties with Israel. However, it has been highly critical of the Israeli army’s conduct in Gaza, accusing it of trying to remove Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank.
Jordan, which borders the Israeli-occupied West Bank, is home to over more than million Palestinian refugees, according to the United Nations. Jordan also serves as the custodian of Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site, Al-Aqsa compound.
The Palestinian Authority administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Its forces were driven from Gaza when Hamas seized power in 2007, and it has no influence there.
Egypt and Kuwait on Friday expressed their support for the advisory opinion.
“The ICJ’s advisory opinion deemed the continued Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories illegal as it violates the Palestinians’ right to self-determination,” the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said.
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit welcomed the ICJ’s advisory opinion which “constitutes a key legal pillar in supporting the Palestinian narrative and boosting its legitimacy and credibility,” he said.
Riyad Malki, the Palestinian Foreign Minister, commended the decision by the ICJ to label Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territories and settlement policy as unlawful.
“The ICJ fulfilled its legal and moral duties with this historic ruling. All states must now uphold the clear obligations: No aid, no assistance, no complicity, no money, no arms, no trade, no nothing. No actions of any kind … to support Israel’s illegal occupation,” Malki said from outside the courtroom.
Malki represents the Palestinian Authority at the International Court of Justice, and other UN courts, and was in the courtroom when Friday’s decision was read.
Hussein Shiekh, a senior official in the Palestine Liberation Organization, called the court’s decision “a historic victory for the rights of the Palestinian people and their right to self-determination.” He said the international community must listen to what the court decided and pressure Israel to end the occupation.
Meanwhile, Palestinian news agency WAFA has reported that dozens of Palestinians have been killed in overnight Israeli strikes across different parts of Gaza, just hours after the ICJ ruling.
The British government, meanwhile, said it would carefully consider before responding to Friday’s ICJ opinion.
“The UK respects the independence of the ICJ,” the Foreign Office said in a statement. “The Foreign Secretary was clear on his visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories earlier this week that the UK is strongly opposed to the expansion of illegal settlements and rising settler violence.”
David Lammy, the British Foreign Secretary, also said the Palestinian Authority needs to be “reformed and empowered.”
Lammy also called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
“This government is committed to a negotiated two-state solution which can deliver a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state,” the statement said.
Ismaeel Naar is The National’s Arab Affairs Editor
Agencies contributed to this report
