15 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Israel’s ultra-nationalist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to annex the West Bank if the International Court of Justice (ICJ) declares Israeli settlements in the area illegal.
“I call on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: If the ICJ in The Hague decides that the settlement initiative is illegal, respond with a historic decision to apply sovereignty to the territories of the homeland,” Smotrich told reporters.
Smotrich, known for his racist stances and for advocating the destruction of the Gaza Strip and the seizure of control of the West Bank, has redoubled his commitment to work for “the application of de facto sovereignty” in the West Bank and has asserted that “no one will move the people of Israel from their land.”
“I will continue, with God’s help, on my path of working for the development of settlements, for the implementation of ‘de facto’ sovereignty and to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state through massive construction, settlement regulation, road building and other measures on the ground,” he said.
The ICJ announced last week that it will deliver its opinion on Friday from the Peace Palace in The Hague on the legal consequences of Israel’s policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.
The body opened a series of hearings in February on the request submitted in December 2022 by the United Nations General Assembly for a formal opinion on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Israel has not participated in the hearings as it does not recognise the legitimacy of the process.
This is the second time that the ICJ, at the request of the UN General Assembly, has had to rule on the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The first time was in 2004, when it ruled that the separation wall built by Israel in the occupied West Bank violated international law and called for its demolition, although it still stands.
It should be recalled that the court also heard another petition this year, this time submitted by South Africa, to rule against the Israeli military offensive during the war for alleged violation of the Genocide Convention in its response to the bombings following the Hamas terrorist attack on 7 October.
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