On Tuesday, at the United Nations’ top court, Israel rejects claims of South Africa accusing the nation of causing apartheid against Palestinians and that Israel’s occupation of land meant for a Palestinian state is inherently and fundamentally illegal.
During the second day of hearing, South African representatives spoke at the International Court of Justice into a request by the General Assembly for a non-binding advisory opinion on the legality of Israel’s policies in the occupied territories.
The country ambassador to Netherlands, Vusimuzi Madonsela, told the panel of 15 international judges that the nation has a special obligation to its own people and the international community in ensuring that wherever the egregious and offensive practices of apartheid occur, it must be called out for what they are and brought to an immediate end.
Israel, rejected the claims, asserting it unfair and biased but refused to say a world at the hearings, which took place against the backdrop of the war in Gaza, killing over 29,000 Palestinians.
Last year, Israel sent a letter, arguing that the questions put to the court are prejudiced and fail to recognize Israel’s right and duty to protect its citizens, address Israeli security concerns or acknowledge past agreements with the Palestinians to negotiate the permanent status of the territory, security arrangements, settlements, and borders.
During the 1967 mideast war, Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, and now Palestinians seek all three areas for an independent state but Israel considers the West Bank to be a disputed territory, saying its should be decided through negotiations.
It also established settlements across the West Bank, in form of fully developed suburbs and small towns which home more than 500,000 Jewish settlers, while around 3 million Palestinians live in the territory.
U.N and other bodies sees the settlements as illegal – Israel’s annexation of east Jerusalem, home to the city’s most sensitive holy sites, is not internationally recognized.
Isreal Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that it does not recognize the legitimacy of the discussions at the International Court of Justice, calling the case part of Palestines attempt to dictate the results of the political agreement without negotiations.
South African representative Pieter Andreas Stemmet disclosed that the settlements have extended the temporary nature of the occupation into a permanent situation in violation of the Palestinian right to self-determination, strongly echoed by South Africa’s legal arguments that those made a day earlier by Palestinian representatives as six days of hearings opened before the Netherlands-based court.
Following the hearings, Palestine have opened hearings, with a total of 51 nations and three international organizations scheduled to address the court, which will likely take months to issue its advisory opinion.
It claims Israel’s open-ended military occupation violated the prohibition on territorial conquest and the Palestinians’ right to self-determination, imposing a system of racial discrimination and apartheid.
