The hearings on the legality of Israel's 57-year occupation of Palestine are separate from the genocide committed by South Africa.
The United Nations' highest court is scheduled to hold historic hearings into the legality of Israel's 57-year occupation of Palestinian territory.
The week-long case, which begins Monday at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, comes as Israel continues its devastating war in Gaza.
Since October 7, the violence has killed more than 29,000 Palestinians.
This case is separate from the genocide complaint filed by South Africa with the ICJ for alleged violations against Israel in its ongoing war.
Instead, it focuses on Israel's occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem since 1967.
Palestinians seek independent statehood in all three areas.
Palestinian delegates who will be the first to speak on Monday will argue that the Israeli occupation is illegal because it violates three key principles of international law, the Palestinian legal team told reporters on Wednesday. It's planned.
They claim that by annexing large swathes of occupied territory, Israel has violated the prohibition on territorial conquest, violated the Palestinians' right to self-determination, and imposed a system of racial discrimination and apartheid.
“We want to hear new words from the court,” said Omar Awadallah, director of the Palestinian Foreign Ministry's UN organization.
“The South African case had to consider the word genocide,” he said, referring to another case before the court. “Now I want them to think about apartheid.”
Mr. Awadallah said the court's advisory opinion “will give us more tools to confront the illegality of the occupation using peaceful methods and means of international law.”
It is expected to take several months for the court to issue a decision.
After the Palestinians make their case, an unprecedented 51 countries and three groups – the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the African Union – will address the judges in the large wood-paneled Judiciary Hall.
Israel sent written observations but will not hold oral arguments.
The case came to court after the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) voted by a wide margin in December 2022 to require a 15-judge panel to issue a non-binding advisory opinion on the Israeli occupation.
The request was pushed by the Palestinians but vehemently opposed by Israel, which called any potential decision from the court “totally illegal.”
Israel occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza in 1967 during its war with Egypt, Jordan, and Syria.
Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 but still controls the enclave's borders.
More than 500,000 Jewish settlers live in 146 settlements in the occupied West Bank, according to the monitoring group Peace Now. The West Bank's settler population has increased by more than 15% in the past five years, according to settlement advocacy groups.
Israel has also annexed East Jerusalem and considers the entire city its capital. An additional 200,000 Israelis live in settlements built in East Jerusalem, which Israel considers a suburb of the capital. Palestinian residents in the city face systematic discrimination, making it difficult to build new housing or extend existing ones.
The international community overwhelmingly considers the settlements to be illegal. Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem, home to the city's most sensitive holy sites, is not internationally recognized.
This case marks the second time that the UNGA has requested an advisory opinion from the ICJ, also known as the World Court, relating to the occupied Palestinian territories.
In July 2004, a court ruled that Israel's separation wall in the West Bank violates international law and must be removed, although it remains in place.