NEW YORK (Dispatches) – The Permanent Representative of Palestine to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, has told the Palestinian radio station Voice of Palestine that a meeting will be held with the legal department of the International Court of Justice next week to discuss the documents and reports needed for the court’s advisory opinion on the Zionist regime’s occupation.
This comes after the UN’s General Assembly passed a resolution earlier in the week calling for the ICJ’s advisory opinion on the occupation.
Mansour added that the ICJ will discuss the legal implications of the continued occupation of Palestinian land and the deprivation of the Palestinian people of their rights. It will also discuss everything regarding settlement construction, annexation of lands and the demolition of Palestine houses.
The Security Council will hold an open session at the end of this month to discuss the latest developments in this regard, the Palestinian diplomat added.
Promoted by Palestinians, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution on Friday by a vote of 87 in favor, 26 against, with 53 abstentions. Russia and China voted in favor of the resolution.
More than 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Al-Quds.
All settlements are illegal under international law. The UN Security Council has condemned the Zionist regime’s settlement activities in the occupied territories in several resolutions.
Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent state with East Al-Quds as its capital.