As part of Tunisia’s unwavering support for the just Palestinian cause, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad would like to inform that, on instructions from the President of the Republic, Tunisia submitted, on 14 December 2023, a request for registration on the list of States that will present oral pleadings before the International Court of Justice in the framework of the advisory opinion requested by the General Assembly of the United Nations on the legal consequences arising from the ongoing violation by the occupying entity of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, from its prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian territory, including measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and from its adoption of related discriminatory legislation and measures as well as on the impact of the Zionist entity’s policies and practices on the legal status of the occupation.
The pleading will be prepared by a national competency in international law. The oral hearings will start from 19 February 2024 at the International Court of Justice’s headquarters.
This option stems from our country’s belief in the symbolism of this opinion, initiated by the most representative body of the United Nations and requested from the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It also goes beyond the criminalization of massacres committed against unarmed civilians in Gaza, regardless of their legal qualification as genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity, to include fundamental and existential issues for the Palestinian People concerning their right to self-determination and the legal status of occupation.
In its pleading, Tunisia will endeavor to reveal the occupying entity’s lack of international legitimacy and its gross breach of the fundamental instruments and principles of international law, bearing the hope that the ICJ Advisory Opinion would result in unveiling the usurping and colonial face of the occupied entity before the international community, as had been the case with the Court’s opinion on the separation wall in July, 2004.
Tunisia cannot give any concessions on its firm position on the Fundamental Palestinian cause and will not budge from it. It remains open and supportive of initiatives, proceedings and declarations not dating the Palestinian cause from October 7, 2023, not drawing parallels between the victim and the perpetrator and not condemning resistance. Nor will it join any proceedings against the occupying entity before the International Court of Justice for its implicit recognition of that entity.
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