International Court of Justice to Deliver Opinion on Israeli Policies in “Occupied Palestinian Territory”

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – The International Court of Justice (also known as the World Court) has announced it will deliver its requested opinion on the “Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory” on July 19, Reuters reports. 

Located at The Hague in the Netherlands, the ICJ is one of the six organs of the United Nations; the court’s two main functions are “to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States” and “to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by duly authorized United Nations organs and agencies of the system.”

The ICJ has given negative opinions on Israeli policy toward the Palestinians in the past, but as the court’s views are not legally binding, Israel has not had to abide by them.

The opinion awaited later this week will be given at the request of the Palestinian Authority and of a record 52 countries that presented arguments about the legal consequences of Israeli policy in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in February.

“Politically, [the ICJ ruling] will help in achieving a two-state solution. We are using the platform of the largest judicial body to advance our cause,” Omar Awadallah, a senior official in the Palestinian Foreign Ministry, told reporters.

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