Dr. Yasmin Moussa, the legal advisor at the Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, presented today, Wednesday, the Egyptian pleading before the International Court of Justice in The Hague regarding Israeli practices in the occupied Palestinian territories.

“Moussa” said during her speech before the International Court of Justice, that “Egypt views the occupation and the fait accompli in the occupied Palestinian territories as illegal, illegitimate, and very dangerous,” emphasizing that “this occupation constitutes a violation of the international charter.”

She noted that “Israel, in its prolonged occupation, is based on illegal systems and their continuous application,” pointing out that “the court has ruled that seizure of others’ lands by force is prohibited, and that the principle of self-determination is among the clear standards of international law that cannot be violated under any circumstances.”

She stressed that “these Israeli policies and practices in the occupied territories must be reviewed and evaluated according to the fundamental principles of international law, especially since the occupying state is prohibited from changing the existing situation in the occupied territories, forbidden from annexing any part of those lands, and is granted certain powers to carry out some actions according to rules defined by international law.”

She mentioned that “temporary occupation under the law does not involve exercising sovereignty over the occupied lands or altering their system or removing them from what they are,” adding: “The occupying force attempts to impose its control over the occupied territories and operate separately from those present in the occupying state according to the Fourth Geneva Conventions.”

She pointed out that “the geographical transformation of the occupied territories has become clear in Palestine,” citing the displacement of residents from their lands and the bringing in of settlers to live in the occupied territories, although the Paris Agreement prohibits transferring civilians from the occupied territories for racial or colonial reasons.

She highlighted what was mentioned in the Palestinian pleading, presenting clear evidence that Israel supports settlements and maintains them indefinitely, changes demographic features, exercises Israeli sovereignty over those lands, and displaces Palestinians especially in Gaza.

She stated that “forcible eviction orders against the Palestinian population in Gaza are a clear violation of international law and amount to ethnic cleansing; especially since Article 49 not only prohibits population transfer but emphasizes that forced displacement is unacceptable.”

She continued that “the settlements and Israeli measures to change the status of Jerusalem are considered by international law a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and the Security Council in its Resolution 298 clarified that Israeli measures to change the situation in Jerusalem, confiscate lands and properties, and displace the population are (illegal and cannot be effective).”

She added: “The prolonged Israeli occupation and the settlement policy based on occupation laws aim to forcibly evacuate Palestinians from their lands, specifically Jerusalem, and reinforce Jewish presence in those lands by imposing the fait accompli. The majority of the world’s countries stated that Israel and its efforts to perpetuate and cement the occupation of Palestinian lands constitute a violation of the law preventing seizure of others’ lands by force.”

She declared that depriving the Palestinian people from exercising their right in the occupied lands and working to annex them to Israel is a “war crime,” adding: “Raising this issue reminds us of the importance of international law which prohibits colonialism and the dispossession of peoples, and what Israel has been doing since 1967, justifying it by the principle of self-defense, is not defense but aggression against Palestinian lands.”

She concluded: “The prolonged occupation for decades cannot be consistent with international law, Israel has no right to seize Palestinian lands by force, there is no legal basis for that; Resolution 242 stipulates that no state may occupy the lands of another state by force, which applies to the conflict and occupation.”

She reinforced her statements with articles from the United Nations Charter, specifically Article 32, and resolutions issued by the Security Council which mandate ending the occupation of lands since 1967, including East Jerusalem, concluding: “From Egypt’s point of view, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza are occupied territories, the occupation cannot have legitimacy, and what Israel is doing to change the status quo is illegal and prohibited, according to the article which states that seizure of another state’s land by force is illegal.”