The Israel-Palestine Conflict
Recent developments at the International Court of Justice
15 May 2024
The Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC) hosted this conference bringing together international legal scholars and human rights lawyers to discuss recent developments at the International Court of Justice regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict.
The conflict in Gaza has, once again, drawn attention to the long-running and unresolved Israel-Palestine conflict that continues to raise many questions of international law. On 29 December 2023, the South African Government instituted proceedings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against the State of Israel under the 1948 Genocide Convention, and requested provisional measures, which the Court issued on 26 January 2024. In February 2024, 52 States and three international organisations participated in the advisory opinion proceedings at the ICJ on the Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, following a request from the United Nations General Assembly in December 2022. Then, in March 2024, Nicaragua filed an Application instituting Proceedings against Germany for violating international law through its support of Israel’s armed activities in the Gaza Strip and its defunding of UNRWA.
During this event, convened over two panels, international legal experts addressed: the ICJ Advisory Opinion on the Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem; and the South Africa v. Israel case before the ICJ. They discussed what we might expect from the ICJ, and other international and domestic courts, going forward.
This conference was organised by HRLC Members Victor Kattan (Assistant Professor in Public International Law) and Andrea Pelliconi (Teaching Associate in Law).
Speakers
- Maha Abdallah – Graduate Teaching & Research Assistant in Public International Law, University of Antwerp
- Yasmine Ahmed - UK Director, Human Rights Watch
- Kai Ambos - Chair for Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Comparative Law, International Criminal Law and Public International Law, Faculty of Law, Georg August Universität Göttingen, Germany; Judge, Kosovo Specialist Chambers
- Luigi Daniele - Senior Lecturer at Nottingham Law School, Nottingham Trent University
- Victor Kattan - Assistant Professor in Public International Law, University of Nottingham
- Gerhard Kemp – Professor of Criminal Law, University of the West of England
- Andrea Pelliconi – Teaching Associate in Law, University of Nottingham
- Mais Qandeel - Senior Lecturer of International Law / Law and Technologies, Örebro University
View the programme
Keynote Address
The event began with a keynote address by Yasmine Ahmed on ‘Third State and Corporate Responsibility for Violations and Crimes in Gaza: Holding Those Complicit to Account’.
Yasmine Ahmed has two decades of experience as a public international lawyer, and human rights advocate. In her current role, she advocates for the UK's foreign and domestic policies to be consistent with human rights.
Yasmine is a well-known human rights commentator, regularly appearing on the BBC, Sky, Times Radio, Al Jazeera and other broadcasters. Her insights have also been featured in the Guardian, the Independent, the Times, and the Washington Post.
The ICJ Advisory Opinion on the Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.
This first panel was chaired by Mando Rachovitsa, Associate Professor in Human Rights Law and Deputy Director of the HRLC. Speakers included:
- Mais Qandeel, who discussed ‘Belligerent Occupation and Territorial Annexation of Palestine: Illegality, Settler-Colonialism and International Law’
- Andrea Pelliconi, who examined ‘Legal Consequences of Demographic Changes in the Occupied Palestinian Territories: Demographic Engineering to the Test of the ICJ’
- Victor Kattan, who explored ‘The Implications of an ICJ Finding that Israel is Committing the Crime Against Humanity of Apartheid’
Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip at the ICJ (South Africa v. Israel)
This panel, chaired by Hemi Mistry, Associate Professor in Law at the University of Nottingham, featured the following speakers:
- Maha Abdallah on ‘Israel on Trial for Genocide: Now What?’
- Gerhard Kemp on ‘The South African and Namibian submissions at the ICJ: Some thoughts on the structure of genocide and apartheid and the (possible) prosecution of these crimes at the ICC’
- Luigi Daniele on ‘Israel's Distortions of Ius in Bello: From the Law of Armed Conflict to the 'Law' of Armed Genocide?’
Kai Ambos, Professor at Georg August Universität Göttingen and Judge at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, joined this panel as a discussant.
Olympia Bekou, Professor of Public International Law and Head of the School of Law at the University of Nottingham, delivered the closing remarks.