LONDON: The UK should stop supplying arms to Israel after the International Court of Justice said member states should not “provide aid or assistance” to the occupation of Palestinian territory, a British lawyer representing Palestine at the International Court of Justice has said.
Philippe Sands KC said the ICC's recommendations would cause problems for the UK, which has failed to halt arms exports since the start of Israel's war in Gaza, which has killed around 40,000 Palestinians.
“The most pressing issue is the advisory opinion’s obligation to states, including the UK, not to assist or assist in maintaining the current situation in the occupied West Bank, including (East) Jerusalem,” Sands told the Guardian.
“Such legal obligations prohibit the sale of military equipment that may be used directly or indirectly to assist Israel in its illegal occupation of the occupied Palestinian territories.”
Sands, a professor at University College London and visiting professor at Harvard, said the ruling was not binding, but that there would likely be a vote at the UN General Assembly on whether to accept the position. Until then, the ruling would be “recognized as a legally binding decision and something that the UN and its specialized agencies will follow as law.”
He added: “How will the UK vote on this? Will it vote against or abstain? If the government sticks to their word about respecting international law, given the nature and detail of the ICC’s recommendations, you would expect them to vote against at the very least.”
“This could be an early problem in relations with the United States, which will almost certainly vote against it, even if the US judges are part of the majority.”
He added that this would also affect imports from Israeli settlements to the UK, adding: “Anything produced in the occupied territories, such as food or anything sold online, is subject to international bans if it is said to aid or support the maintenance of the illegal occupation.”
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy has said the new Labour government is conducting a “comprehensive review of Israel's compliance with international humanitarian law”, with arms exports expected to be a key issue in the review.
The Labour Party also pledged in its recent campaign manifesto to recognise a Palestinian state, but did not give a timeline for when that would happen.
In its advisory opinion, the ICJ stated “the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, including the right to an independent and sovereign state.”
“Ultimately, state recognition is a political matter, not a legal obligation, so there is an element of discretion,” Sands said.
“However, judges of the International Court of Justice 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) recognise Palestine as a state, with the UK being only a small and ever-shrinking group that refuses to do so.”
On July 19, the previous UK Conservative government responded to the International Court of Justice's opinion by saying it “considered carefully before responding”.
In 2023, it filed a 43-page legal ruling challenging the International Court of Justice's investigation into the Israeli occupation.
