Archiv: Paul S. Reichler


20.02.2024 - 10:30 [ International Court of Justice ]

Public sitting held on Monday 19 February 2024, at 10 a.m., at the Peace Palace

33. The only State besides Fiji to defend Israel is the United States. This is not surprising. Whatever offences against international law Israel commits, the United States comes forward to shield it from accountability. Here, the United States attempts to defend Israel, not by arguing that the occupation is lawful, but that it is neither lawful nor unlawful. To reach this conclusion, the United States argues that belligerent occupation is governed exclusively by international humanitarian law and not by the United Nations Charter or general international law. In its own words: “Although international humanitarian law imposes obligations on belligerents in their conduct of an occupation, it does not provide for the legal status of an occupation to be lawful or unlawful.“

20.02.2024 - 10:25 [ Molly Quell, International law for @CourthouseNews / Twitter ]

Reichler says that only Fiji and the US have argued in favour of the occupation.

WHICH WE COULD KNOW FOR OURSELVES IF WE HAD THE WRITTEN STATEMENTS.