LONDON: The UK should stop arming Israel after the International Court of Justice said member states should not “provide aid or assistance” in the occupation of Palestinian territories, a British lawyer representing Palestine at the ICJ said.
Philippe Sands KC said the ICJ's advisory opinion would cause problems for the UK, which has failed to stop arms exports since the start of Israel's war in Gaza, which has killed around 40,000 Palestinians.
“The most pressing issue is the obligation in the advisory position for states, including the UK, not to aid or assist in maintaining the current situation in the occupied territories of the West Bank, including (East) Jerusalem,” Sands told The Guardian.
“This legal obligation precludes the sale of military equipment that could be directly or indirectly used to assist Israel in maintaining its illegal occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territories.”
Sands, a professor at University College London and a visiting professor at Harvard, said the decision was not binding, but it was likely that the UN General Assembly would follow a vote on whether to adopt the position, and by then it would be “recognised”. as an authoritative statement of law and one which the United Nations and its specialized agencies will follow as law.
He added: “How does the UK vote on this? Will he vote against or abstain? If the government keeps its word to respect international law, given the nature and detail of the ICJ advisory opinion, you would expect it to at least not vote against it.
“It could be an early problem in relations with the United States, which will almost certainly vote against it, despite the fact that the American judge was part of a large majority.”
He said it would also affect imports from Israeli settlements into the UK, adding: “Basically anything produced in the occupied territories, such as food or sold over the internet, is subject to an international ban if it can be said to help or assists in the maintenance of an illegal occupation.”
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the new Labor government was conducting a “comprehensive review of Israel's compliance with international humanitarian law”, with the review expected to focus on arms exports.
In its recent election manifesto, Labor pledged to recognize a Palestinian state, but gave no timetable for when this would happen.
In its advisory opinion, the ICJ cited “the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, including their right to an independent and sovereign state.”
Sands said: “State recognition is ultimately a political matter, not a legal obligation, so there is a discretionary element.
“However, ICJ judges have clearly stated that self-determination means that the Palestinian people 'have the right to an independent and sovereign state.'
“About 150 states (out of almost 200) recognize Palestine as a state, the UK is part of a small and shrinking group that refuses.”
On 19 July, the previous British Conservative government responded to the ICJ opinion by stating that it was “considering it carefully before responding”.
In 2023, she submitted a 43-page legal opinion against the ICJ's investigation of the Israeli occupation.
