GENEVA: Countries must act to stop Israeli “attacks” against Palestinians and end the “unlawful” occupation of their territories, dozens of UN-mandated experts said on Wednesday.
In a non-binding advisory opinion issued in July, the UN’s top court said Israel’s 57-year occupation of Palestinian territory was “illegal” and must end as soon as possible.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the ruling by The Hague-based International Court of Justice a “decision of lies”.
On Wednesday, the UN experts said states have since “remain paralysed” and failed to meet their obligations as reaffirmed by the ICJ, thereby “furthering genocidal violence”.
“Failure to act now jeopardises the entire edifice of international law and rule of law in world affairs,” they said.
UN demands Israel end ‘unlawful’ presence in Palestinian territories within 12 months
“The world stands upon the edge of a knife: Either we travel collectively towards a future of just peace and lawfulness – or hurtle towards anarchy and dystopia, and a world where might makes right.”
The experts are mandated by the UN Human Rights Council, but do not speak on behalf of the organisation.
Among the signatories was Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories who said on Monday that Israel would inevitably become “a pariah” during its “relentless vilifying assault on the United Nations, (and) Palestinians”.
The experts listed 14 measures countries should take immediately, including a full arms embargo on Israel, recognising a Palestinian state and sanctioning Israeli individuals and entities “involved in the unlawful occupation and apartheid regime”.
The ICJ opinion and the UN experts’ appeal came on the backdrop of a spiralling humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, where Israeli forces have been fighting Hamas since the Palestinian unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel.
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