Palestine celebrates International Court of Justice ruling

Accra, July 9, GNA - The Palestine Embassy has reiterated its appreciation to the Government and People of Ghana for their support to the Palestinian agenda to establish an independent State with Jerusalem as its capital.

This was contained in a statement issued in Accra to commemorate the sixth anniversary of the July 9, ruling by the International Court of Justice in The Hague for the demolition of the segregation wall built by the Israeli Government on Palestinian occupied territories.

In addition, it requested the International Community, particularly, the US to put genuine pressure on the Israeli Government to comply with The Hague demand and international resolutions towards the achievement of peace, security and justice to the entire people and nations of the region.

The ruling stated the "illegality of Israel's construction of a huge concrete segregation wall, which has divided the occupied Palestinian territories into isolated retreats and continues to confiscate thousands of Dunams (units of areas) of Palestinian lands in contravention of the international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention."

It demanded the Israeli Government to halt with immediate effect the illegal construction works as well as demolishing what has already been built in the previous settlements.

The court called on the Israeli Government to urgently present compensations to Palestinians who were affected by the wall's construction, in addition to exerting all diplomatic efforts to achieve the objective.

"After six years of this international call, the Israeli Government, as usual, continues to turn a deaf ear to international calls and UN resolutions as well as ignore the will of the International Community, "the statement added.

"More so, the Israeli Government continues to build the segregation wall, confiscate more lands and expand the settlements, particularly in the West Bank and Jerusalem," it said.

The statement said continuation of such Israeli aggressive politics in the form of splitting the Palestinian lands and converting them into secluded cantonments was similar to the quarters put up by the Apartheid regime in South Africa against the original settlers.

It said in addition to the demolition of houses, indiscriminate arrest of civilians and throwing them into prisons as well as killing of children, women and the aged would inevitably pull the Middle East into another round of destructive war, which threatened international peace and security.

PAF/JA

9 July 10