Mehdi Zakarian, in an interview with the website of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations about the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice that the Palestinian territories are occupied territories, said: The message of this opinion of the court in the political dimension is that, despite some people’s belief, the international system is witnessing a return to harsh realism and in a way a revival of the 20th century Cold War, but it is still a foundation of an active legal system that controls the behavior of some countries that intend to abuse the international system for their own benefit.
He stated that the International Court of Justice was established at the request of the United Nations General Assembly at the beginning of this year and expressed its opinion specifically about the policies and performance of the Israeli regime towards the Palestinian lands and the legal status of the occupation of these lands, and said: the International Court of Justice, which is the highest legal authority in the international system declared the occupation of Palestinian lands by the Israeli regime against international law.
The international issues expert said about the impact of this vote on the positions of institutions and countries that support Palestine, especially in international security institutions, including the United Nations and the General Assembly: The resolutions that will be issued later in the United Nations General Assembly, the Human Rights Council, and the Security Council are based on the consultative decision of the Court. They will refer to it, and this is a political and legal failure for the Israeli regime. If the Security Council wants to issue a resolution regarding the actions of this regime in this Council, it will have to refer to the Court’s advisory opinion. Therefore, the political and international environment will become much narrower for the Israeli regime.
Regarding the follow-up of this vote by the country or countries that support Palestine to put more pressure on the Israeli regime in international forums, Zakarian noted: First, the International Court of Justice will not take any further action regarding this vote, because its duty was only to express its advisory opinion unless another behavior from the Israeli regime and another request is raised again. However, according to this decision, the Palestinian government can file a separate complaint against the issues it considers, and the court’s decision in response to the request of the Palestinian government is a way of giving more legitimacy to this government in the international arena.
He further emphasized that the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice invalidated a historical claim of the Israeli regime that the Occupied Territories belonged to the Jewish people. From the point of view of international and historical law, it has a very high position and will definitely be included in international legal documents in the future. It will be mentioned, and in other words, it questioned the legitimacy of the Zionist regime’s rule over these parts.
This expert on international issues clarified that the court’s advisory opinion also declared the Israeli regime’s actions on the Occupied Territories, including settlement constructions, illegal and considered the continued presence of the Zionists in the Occupied Palestinian Territories illegal. From today, it is legally clear for the members of the United Nations General Assembly and it is their duty to consider and call the Israeli regime “occupier”, and this is a political defeat for the Zionist regime and its supporters.
Regarding the advisory opinion of the Court on the occupation of the occupied territories since 1967 and the construction of more than 160 residential settlements for about 700 thousand Jews in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Zakarian said: According to the opinion of the court, the construction of these settlements is illegal and not only should return these areas, but they should pay compensation to the Palestinians living in these areas.
He said: With the issuance of the Court’s advisory decision and the formation of a front of legal measures against the occupation and crimes of the Israeli regime, a heavy responsibility will follow for the supporters of this regime and the governments that have commercial and economic cooperation with Tel Aviv. They must reconsider their interactions; otherwise, they will face strong pressure from public opinion and social and civil institutions.
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