Hamas: Israel’s boycott of ICJ shows its contempt for int’l bodies

“The terrorist occupation government’s boycott of sessions of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) once again confirms its contempt for international institutions and its policy of disregarding international decisions and commitments,” Hamas said yesterday.

The movement added in a statement that “this requires a clear stance from the international community to end the rogue Zionist occupation, and to stop all its violations and crimes against our Palestinian people.”

“We appreciate the stance expressed by the People’s Republic of China during the public hearings held by the ICJ regarding the legal consequences of the occupation’s policies in Palestinian territories.  We highly value China’s acknowledgement of occupied peoples’ right to self-determination, through various means including armed resistance, and the necessity of distinguishing between terrorism and the armed struggle practised by the Palestinian people against the Zionist occupation.”

During his address yesterday, Chinese envoy to the UN, Zhang Jun, said: “Palestinian people’s use of force to resist foreign oppression and complete the establishment of an independent state is [an] inalienable right well founded in international law.”

Watch: Kuwait envoy breaks down relaying Palestinian suffering at ICJ

The Palestinian movement also appreciated “the positions of the countries participating in the sessions, which condemned the widespread violations of international law committed by the terrorist occupation entity against the Palestinian people and their occupied land, including massacres and genocide in Gaza, violations and killings and expansion of settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem, and efforts to bring about demographic changes in Palestinian territory, aimed at Judaising it and undermining its identity.”