Skip to main content

Palestinians ask UN court to revoke US Jerusalem embassy move

JERUSALEM: Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki said Saturday the Palestinians have petitioned the UN’s top court, alleging that the US inauguration of an embassy in Jerusalem was illegal.

The Palestinians have filed a lawsuit at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) “for violating international law by moving its embassy in Israel to the occupied city of Jerusalem”, he said, quoted by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.

In December, US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, despite Palestinian claims on part of the city and breaking with longstanding US policy.

Palestinians have since refused all contact with the Trump administration.

The US embassy was transferred from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on May 14, a day marked by mass protest in the Gaza Strip, where about 60 Palestinian protesters were killed by Israeli fire in border clashes.

Israel occupied east Jerusalem along with the West Bank in the 1967 Six-Day War and later declared the entire city its united capital.

Palestinians claim the predominantly Arab eastern area as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

UN resolutions call on countries to refrain from moving their embassies to the city until its status is resolved in an Israeli-Palestinian deal.

“The ICJ was asked to declare that moving the embassy to occupied Jerusalem constituted a violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations,” WAFA wrote in English.

The court said the Palestinian suit, filed on Friday, called on the body “to order the United States of America to withdraw the diplomatic mission from the Holy City of Jerusalem and to conform to the international obligations flowing from the Vienna Convention”.

An official of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) said it was the first time Palestinians had petitioned the court against the United States.

In November 2012, the UN General Assembly recognised the Palestinian Authority as a “non-member observer state”.

This allowed the Palestinians to join UN bodies such as the ICJ and also the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is a separate institution.

Previously, the Palestinians had asked the UN General Assembly to seek a ruling on their behalf over Israel’s West Bank separation barrier.

In 2004, the court issued a non-binding ruling that the network of walls and fences was illegal and called for sections to be dismantled.

Israel said it had no intention of complying.

The ICC was set up in 2002 with jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute the world’s worst crimes including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Neither the United States nor Israel are signatories to the ICC.

Earlier this month, Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said the Palestinians had filed a petition there against Israel over its pending demolition of the Palestinian Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar in the occupied West Bank.

They have previously filed suit to the ICC claiming Israeli war crimes in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem.

 

The post Palestinians ask UN court to revoke US Jerusalem embassy move appeared first on ARYNEWS.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Police arrest another suspect in Rimsha Wassan murder case

KHAIRPUR: Police on Tuesday arrested another suspect in Rimsha Wassan murder case during a raid in Khairpur, ARY News reported. Police said suspect Hidayatullah was arrested during the raid and weapons were recovered from his possession. They said the arrested suspect was a close aide of Zulfiqar Wassan, Sabir Wassan and Abdul Ghaffar. “The suspect will be produced before the Anti-Terrorism Court for remand,” said police. On March 19, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) had extended the remand of three suspects in Rimsha murder case for three more days for further investigations. Hearing the Rimsha murder case, the court, on the request of police, had decided to extend the physical remand of the suspects for three more days. Read More:  ATC extends suspects’ remand in Rimsha murder case According to the details, police had produced the prime suspect, Zulfiqar Wassan alias Zulfoo , his associates nominated in the case, Ghaffar Wassan and Sabir Wassan before the court amid strict se...

Sajal Aly, Ahad Raza Mir are already sending out wedding invites

Pakistan’s hot favourite celebrity couple Sajal Aly and Ahad Raza Mir are all set to tie the knot soon.  The pair has already started sending out wedding invitations to friends and family as fans eagerly wait for one of the biggest celebrity weddings of the year. The actors invited British Deputy High Commissioner, Mike Nithavrianakis, to their big day, who took to Twitter to share that it was wonderful meeting them. Thank you! Hope to see you at the wedding @MikeNith1 https://t.co/YtOOYBJuhq — Sajal Ali (@Iamsajalali) February 28, 2020 “They’ve been ‘married’ on-screen several times. Now for the real deal. Best wishes to them both,” he wrote. The Mom actress thanked him and said “Hope to see you at the wedding.” Earlier, a photo of a cake which had ‘Ahad aur Sajal ki dholki’ written over it went viral. The lovebirds got engaged in July last year after dating for a while. The post Sajal Aly, Ahad Raza Mir are already sending out wedding invites appeared first on...

India’s coronavirus cases rise by a daily record of 55,078

BENGALURU: India reported another record surge in daily COVID-19 cases on Friday, taking the total to 1.64 million, as the government further eases virus curbs in a bid to resuscitate the economy, while also trying to increase testing. Infections jumped by 55,078 in the past 24 hours, while the death toll rose by 779 to 35,747, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on its website. The ministry also said it aimed to raise the country’s capacity to 1 million coronavirus tests per day in the medium term, from a record 600,000 on Friday. The federal government this week announced the reopening of yoga institutes and gymnasiums, and removed restrictions on the movement of people and goods. The post India’s coronavirus cases rise by a daily record of 55,078 appeared first on ARY NEWS .