Indonesia joins the chorus of the International community in asking the Israel government to end its illegal occupation of Palestine following the July 19, 2024 “edict” of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
“This legal edict shows that international law is in favor of the Palestinian cause,” Foreign Minister Retno P. Marsudi said in a statement as quoted on Sunday, July 21, 2024
In the edict, Retno continued, the Court has reiterated a rule-based international order by determining illegal status of Israel presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
“Therefore, Indonesia supports the Court’s view that all countries and the United Nations should not recognize the situation created by the illegal presence of Israel,” Retnocadded.
The advisory opinion by the ICJ on Israel’s occupation of Palestine was issued on Friday, July 19, 2024. The ICJ opinion, in response to a 2022 request by the UN General Assembly, said Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem and the West Bank is “unlawful” and should be brought to an end “as rapidly as possible.”
The ICJ Opinion also said that Israel should cease new settlement activities, and “evacuate all settlers from the Occupied Palestinian Territory”.
In line with the Court’s view, Indonesia asks Israel to end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory immediately. Israel also has an obligation to carry out reparation in the form of restitution and compensation, including returning back the lands taken by Israel since 1967 and allowing all Palestinians who were expelled from their home to return.
“Indonesia calls on the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council to meet the request of the Court by considering appropriate means and necessary steps to end Israel’s unlawful presence in Palestine,” Retno cited.
The establishment of a legal edict by the Court is the first step towards realizing the full independence of Palestine. Factually, Israel is still the Occupying Power in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. And the violations stipulated by the Court are still ongoing, while the Palestinians, especially in Gaza, are still the target of Israeli military attacks.
Therefore, Retno reiterated, “Indonesia again calls for Israel to fulfill the basic rights of Palestinians living in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in line with the Court’s fatwa.”
In parallel, Indonesia will invite the international community and the United Nations to jointly follow up on the legal fatwa, and give recognition to the existence of the State of Palestine.
ICJ Edict
As reported by Al Jazeera, the ICJ has ruled that Israel’s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory is unlawful and should come to an end “as rapidly as possible”.
Nawaf Salam, president of the ICJ in The Hague, read out the nonbinding advisory opinion issued by the 15-judge panel on Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory on Friday.
The judges pointed to a wide list of policies – including the building and expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, use of the area’s natural resources, the annexation and imposition of permanent control over lands and discriminatory policies against Palestinians – all of which it said violated international law.
The court said Israel has no right to sovereignty of the territories, is violating international laws against acquiring territory by force and is impeding Palestinians’ right to self-determination.
It said other nations were obliged not to “render aid or assistance in maintaining” Israel’s presence in the territory. It said Israel must end settlement construction immediately and existing settlements must be removed, according to a summary of the more than 80-page opinion read out by Salam.
Israel’s “abuse of its status as the occupying power” renders its “presence in the occupied Palestinian territory unlawful”, the court said.
“Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the regime associated with them, have been established and are being maintained in violation of international law,” the court said.
