The Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has welcomed the advisory opinion issued on July 19 by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) regarding “Israel’s colonization policies and practices in the Palestinian territories.”
In a statement issued on Saturday, the Ministry recalled that the advisory opinion “confirms the illegality of Israel’s colonial policies and its occupation of the Palestinian territories”. It also supports “the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and the need to establish an independent, sovereign and viable Palestinian state,” according to the text.
In this context, the Ministry called on “the international community and the States concerned to seize this legal basis to put pressure on Israel to put an end to its aggressions, violations and policies of forced displacement.” This appeal is aimed at forcing Israel “to immediately cease all settlement activities, evacuate all settlers and end the occupation of the Palestinian territories,” according to the statement.
The ultimate goal is to “launch a serious political process in favor of the two-state solution, in accordance with international resolutions on this subject and the Arab peace initiative launched at the Beirut summit in 2002,” the statement said.
