Background to ICJ hearing on Israel’s occupation of Palestine

The UN’s top court opens a week of hearings on the legal consequences of Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki will kick off the process on Monday when the legal proceedings begin at 10:00 local time at The Hague. 

The current case goes back to December 2022 when the UN General Assembly passed a resolution calling on the ICJ to give an advisory on Israel’s 57-year occupation of Palestinian territories.

The assembly voted 87 to 26 with 53 abstentions in favour of the resolution.

The UN General Assembly asked the court for an advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s “occupation, settlement and annexation … including measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and from its adoption of related discriminatory legislation and measures”.

The UN resolution also asked the ICJ to advise on how those policies and practices “affect the legal status of the occupation” and what legal consequences arise for all countries and the UN from this status.