As Gaza war rages, top U.N. court to hear arguments on Israeli occupation

As Gaza war rages, top U.N. court to hear arguments on Israeli occupation

The top U.N. court is set to begin public hearings Monday into the legality of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory.

The six-day hearing could add to the political pressure on Israel over the war in Gaza, though its focus is on a broader issue: control of the occupied West Bank, annexed East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.

The United States is among the countries set to participate, on Wednesday, along with Egypt, Russia and France. Chinese officials are scheduled to appear Thursday. Israel will not attend.

Israel does not consider that it “occupies” Gaza, arguing that it ceded control over the enclave in 2005, when it unilaterally withdrew. However, human rights groups say that Israel has maintained control over Gaza in other ways, including through a blockade, which Israel and Egypt imposed when the militant group Hamas took power in 2007. The Biden administration has said there must be no “reoccupation” of Gaza as a result of the current conflict.

It is not the first time the matter has been raised. In 2022, the U.N. General Assembly asked the International Court of Justice — which was established to adjudicate issues between states — to give a non-binding “advisory” opinion on the decades-long occupation.

Meanwhile, the U.N. Security Council is expected to vote this week on a resolution drafted by Algeria that calls for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza. Washington — one of five permanent council members with veto power — has said it won’t support the measure.

Here’s what else to know

Israel’s government approved a declaration Sunday that says the country won’t recognize a Palestinian state. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the decision came “in light of remarks that have been heard recently in the international community about an attempt to unilaterally force a Palestinian state on Israel.” A peace plan being developed by the United States and Arab nations calls for a timeline on establishing a Palestinian state.

Norway will help transfer funds frozen by Israel to the Palestinian Authority. The Palestinian Authority relies on tax revenue collected by Israel on its behalf to fund public services in the Palestinian territories. But after Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, Israel refused to transfer the share of the funds earmarked for Gaza, and the PA said it would not agree to receive incomplete funds. Now, Norway said the PA has agreed to receive the rest of the funds from Israel, with Norway holding the frozen funds until both parties agree to release them.

Nasser Hospital, the largest medical facility in southern Gaza, “is not functional anymore,” the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said Sunday, after days of Israeli raids. He said there are still about 200 patients in the hospital and at least 20 need to be transferred to other hospitals for urgent care.

At least 29,092 people have been killed in Gaza and 69,028 injured since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, and says that 236 soldiers have been killed since the start of its military operation in Gaza.