Pakistan presents position on Israel in ICJ today: FO

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan will present its position at the ongoing advisory proceedings of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the case on Israel on Friday.

In a statement, the Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said, “Tomorrow evening, Pakistan will present its position at the ongoing advisory proceedings of the International Court of Justice in the case on legal consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.”

More than 50 states are due to present their stances in the week-long hearings, which have further emphasised the isolation of Israel’s few supporters, following a UN security council hearing on Tuesday in which the US was the lone vote against a draft ceasefire resolution, with the UK abstaining. The US and UK are expected to be virtually alone again at the ICJ hearings in urging restraint in its ruling on Israel’s occupation.

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The ICJ is expected to issue its opinion by the summer, and it could have a far-reaching political and legal impact if it rules the occupation to be illegal. It could for example have implications for governments attempting to ban boycott campaigns aimed at products made in the occupied territories. It could also further increase the geopolitical costs to the US and UK in continuing to defend Israel on the world stage.

Most of the other states offering submissions in the case have argued the opposite: that the absence of negotiations in the face of the Israeli government’s adamant opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state requires a decisive intervention from the ICJ.

“That is the central dispute between the US and many other states, about the prudence of the court advising on certain questions,” said Adil Haque, a professor at Rutgers Law School.