UN pushes to declare Israeli occupation illegal, may seek ICJ opinion

The Jerusalem Post reports: “UN experts are pushing for the International Court of Justice at the Hague to issue an advisory opinion declaring that the Israeli occupation of territory over the pre-1967 lines is illegal.

The UN General Assembly could issue a resolution to seek such an opinion already this year.

A request for such an opinion has already been submitted to the UN’s Third Committee by the Commission of Inquiry on ‘the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel,’ headed by South African legal expert Navi Pillay.

The three-member permanent COI was created last year and published on Thursday its second report, which will be debated by UNGA’s Third Committee on October 27.

The request for an ICJ advisory opinion was listed at the end of the 28-page document.

‘The actions of Israeli Governments reviewed in our report constitute an illegal occupation and annexation regime that must be addressed’, stated COI Commissioner Chris Sidoti. 

‘The international system and individual States must act and uphold their obligations under international law. That must begin at this session of the General Assembly with a referral to the International Court of Justice’, he added…”

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