UN court to speak on Israel occupation

The Hague: The UN's top court will next week hand down its view on the legal consequences of Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories since 1967, a case in which some 52 countries made submissions.

Any opinion delivered by the International Court of Justice would be non-binding, but it will come amid mounting international legal pressure on Israel over the war in Gaza sparked by the brutal October 7 Hamas attacks.

"A public sitting will take place at the Peace Palace in The Hague (on July 19)... during which Judge Nawaf Salam... will read out the Advisory Opinion," the ICJ said on Friday. The ICJ held a week-long session in February to hear submissions from countries following a request from the United Nations late last year.

The UN has asked the ICJ to hand down an "advisory opinion" on the "legal consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem". Most speakers during the hearings have demanded that Israel end its occupation, which came after a six-day Arab-Israeli war in 1967.

But the United States said Israel should not be legally obliged to withdraw without taking its "very real security needs" into account. Speakers also warned a prolonged occupation posed an "extreme danger" to stability in the Middle East and beyond. Israel did not take part in the oral hearings.

It submitted a written contribution, in which it described the questions the court had been asked as "prejudicial" and "tendentious". The case before the court is separate from one brought by South Africa against Israel for alleged genocide during its current offensive in Gaza.

South Africa has gone to the ICJ several times arguing that the dire humanitarian situation means the court should issue further fresh emergency measures. In an initial ruling on January 26, the ICJ ordered Israel to do everything it could to prevent acts of genocide during its military operation in Gaza. It also called for the unconditional release of hostages taken by Palestinian group Hamas during its October 7 assault that sparked the war.

Meanwhile, Hamas is suggesting during ceasefire negotiations that an independent government of non-partisan figures run post-war Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, a member of the Palestinian movement's political bureau said on Friday.

"We proposed that a non-partisan national competency government manage Gaza and the West Bank after the war", Hossam Badran said in a statement about the ongoing negotiations between Israel and Hamas with mediation from Qatar, Egypt, and the United States. "The administration of Gaza after the war is a Palestinian internal matter without any external interference, and we will not discuss the day after the war in Gaza with any external parties", Badran added.