It protects land, people, and natural resources, he told the Middle East News Agency today on Saturday.
In an advisory opinion in response to the UN General Assembly’s request, the ICJ said the Israeli policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, are illegal.
Ambassador Hegazy said the opinion affirmed the illegality of the continued Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories as a violation of the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people and their right to establish their independent state.
It also affirmed the need to end the policy of racial discrimination against the Palestinians and unjust settler activities on Palestinian land per international law.
Occupation and demographics
Ambassador Hegazy added that the court's opinion also reaffirmed the geographical unity of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem as occupied Palestinian territories and rejected Israel's unjust policies on changing demographics through settlement activities on land occupied since 1967.
He stressed the need to mobilize the various countries of the world to stand up to Israel and force it to comply with the decisions of the court and international legitimacy.
He urged international actions to force Israel to remove any obstacles that stand in the way of the right of self-determination for the Palestinians as guaranteed by the Charter of the United Nations and the Fourth Geneva Convention.
The former assistant foreign minister noted that it is the responsibility of international institutions to deter Israel from tampering with population structures and the status of land.
He said the decisions of the International Court of Justice established a new and important legal stage, in anticipation of the ruling in the case brought by South Africa in front of the court, which accuses Israel of genocide against the people of the Gaza Strip.
"The same forum and the same judges who issued these important legal concepts that condemn the occupation and call for a Palestinian state are the ones who are looking at the case charging genocide.”
Ambassador Hegazy also noted that the International Criminal Court (ICC) is considering new arrest warrants for Israeli extremist officials.
Paving the way
Hegazy said the advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice delegitimising the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land paves the way for international action to transform those decisions into an effective mechanism and push towards establishing the legal basis for the establishment of the Palestinian state.
He added that this opinion also urges a swift end to the occupation and other apartheid measures taken by Israel against the Palestinians.
Hegazy called on the international community to protect and compensate the Palestinian people.
He also called for not dealing with the current government in Tel Aviv and instituting punitive measures against it in rejection of the Israeli legislation that imposed this racial segregation and strengthened occupation in violation of international law
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