LONDON: The UK should stop arming Israel after the International Court of Justice said member states should not “render aid or assistance” for the occupation of Palestinian territories, a British lawyer representing Palestine at the ICJ has said.
Philippe Sands KC said the ICJ advisory opinion will cause issues for the UK, which has failed to halt arms exports since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza that has killed around 40,000 Palestinians.
“The most immediate issue is the obligation in the advisory opinion on the states, which includes the United Kingdom, not to aid or assist in the maintenance of the current situation in the occupied territories of the West Bank, including (East) Jerusalem,” Sands told The Guardian.
“That legal obligation precludes sales of military material which could be used directly or indirectly to assist Israel in maintaining its unlawful occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territories.”
Sands, a professor at University College London and a visiting professor at Harvard, said the ruling is not binding but it is likely that a vote will follow at the UN General Assembly on whether to adopt the position, and until then it will be “recognised as an authoritative statement of the law and one that the UN and its specialised agencies will follow as law.”
He added: “How does the UK vote on that? Will it vote against, or will it abstain? If the government is true to its word on respecting international law, given the nature and detail of the ICJ advisory opinion, you would expect them, at the very least, not to vote against.
“This could well be an early issue in relations with the United States, which will almost certainly vote against, despite the fact that the US judge was part of the large majority.”
He said it will also affect imports from Israeli settlements to the UK, adding: “Anything that is produced in the occupied territories, such as food, or that is sold there over the internet, is in principle subject to the international prohibition, if it can be said to aid or assist in the maintenance of the unlawful occupation.”
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy has said the new Labour government is holding a “comprehensive review of Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law,” with arms exports expected to be a focus of the review.
Labour also pledged in its recent election manifesto to recognize a Palestinian state, but has set no timeline on when that would happen.
In its advisory opinion, the ICJ cited “the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, including its right to an independent and sovereign state.”
Sands said: “Ultimately, the recognition of a state is a political matter, not a legal obligation, so there is a discretionary element.
“Nevertheless, the 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 nearly 200) have recognised Palestine as a state, the UK is part of a small and diminishing group that refuses to do so.”
On July 19, the previous UK Conservative government responded to the ICJ’s opinion by saying it was “considering it carefully before responding.”
In 2023, it submitted a 43-page legal opinion opposing the ICJ’s investigation into the Israeli occupation.
