TEHRAN-Israel’s decades-long atrocious crimes against Palestinian people once again grab the headlines as the International Court of Justice holds public hearings on the legal consequences of the regime’s occupation of Palestinian territories.

Judges of the UN's top court have been asked to review "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 Palestinian foreign minister took the floor in the first session of the six-day hearings held in The Hague in the Netherlands on Monday. 

Riyad al-Maliki lashed out at Israel for subjecting Palestinians to decades of discrimination and apartheid.

He said such practices have left Palestinians with the choice of “displacement, subjugation, or death”.

Al-Maliki added, “The only solution consistent with international law is for this illegal occupation to come to an immediate, unconditional and total end.” 

The Palestinian foreign minister also touched upon Israel’s deadly war on Gaza that began on October 7.

“The genocide underway in Gaza is a result of decades of impunity and inaction. Ending Israel’s impunity is a moral, political and legal imperative,” al-Maliki said. 

More than 50 countries and three international organizations speak during the nearly week-long event which had been requested by the United Nations General Assembly. 

The assembly passed a resolution in December 2022 calling on the world’s top court to give an advisory or non-binding opinion on Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories since 1967.

ICJ’s second opinion in 20 years

This is the second time the UN General Assembly has asked the ICJ for an advisory opinion related to Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories.

The ICJ found in July 2004 that Israel's separation wall in the occupied West Bank violated international law, urging the regime to dismantle the structure. But, Israel has so far refused to do so. 

The ongoing ICJ hearings that will continue until February 26 are different from a case filed by South Africa at the UN’s top court against Israel for violating the 1948 Genocide Convention in its onslaught in the Gaza Strip.

In late January, the ICJ ruled on South Africa’s legal case ordering Israel to take all measures to prevent genocide in Gaza.

Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the Six Day War in 1967. It has expanded settlements in the West Bank since then. All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. 

Israeli forces withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005. A year later Hamas won a majority in the Palestinian legislative council election. After Hamas took power in 2007, Israel imposed an airtight land, sea and air blockade on the Palestinian territory which has continued till today. 

Gaza death toll tops 29,000

Israel announced a “total” blockade of the already besieged Gaza Strip, including a ban on food and water, after the Hamas resistance movement launched a military operation codenamed Operation Al-Aqsa Flood in southern Israel on October 7. More than 1,100 were killed in the Hamas attack. About 240 others were seized as captives as well. Around 100 of them were released during a seven-day truce in late November. That was in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners from the regime’s jails. 

Following the Hamas operation, Israel launched a genocidal campaign in Gaza.

The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza announced on Monday morning that the death toll from Israel’s military action since October 7 has risen to 29,092.

The ministry said the number of people who have been injured in the Gaza Strip over the past 132 days stands at 69,028. 

But, the death toll could be higher than official figures as thousands more are missing and feared dead beneath the rubble.

Israeli airstrikes that were followed by a ground invasion on October 27, have destroyed large swaths of the Gaza Strip and displaced a vast majority of the population.