US ‘nearly alone’ in supporting Israel, ICJ hears

The United States stands “nearly alone” on the world stage in trying to provide legal cover for the Israeli governments actions over the last six decades, the International Court of Justice has heard.

“Whatever offences against international law Israel commits, the United States comes forward to shield it from accountability,” Paul Reichler, counsel for Palestine told the court in a historic sitting Monday.

Common Dreams reports Reichler is an American lawyer with a record of success at the court in The Hague which is sitting to consider a request from the UN General Assembly for its opinion on the legality of Israel’s occupation of Palestine.

Reichler asked the court: “Just how far in disregarding the international legal order will the US go to exempt Israel from the consequences of its ongoing violation of peremptory norms, including the prohibition on acquisition of territory by force? Apparently, very far indeed.”

Earlier, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said “Ending Israel’s impunity is a moral, political and legal imperative.

“The genocide underway in Gaza is a result of decades of impunity and inaction” in the face of atrocities committed by the Occupation, he added.

Israel has killed more than 29,000 people in Gaza since October 7.