The Republic of Iraq reaffirmed before the International Court of Justice today, Thursday, the necessity of obligating Israeli authorities to respect the Palestinian people's right to self-determination and to stop violations. Iraq participated with a delegation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, headed by the Director of the Legal Department, Ambassador Haidar Shiyaa Al-Barrak, in the oral pleadings concerning the advisory opinion regarding Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people in the occupied territories, submitted by the United Nations General Assembly to the International Court of Justice.
Al-Barrak delivered Iraq's oral statement before the court in the public session today, emphasizing the importance of the court's opinion in providing the necessary legal elements to bolster efforts aimed at restoring peace and stability in Palestine and the Middle East. He stressed that "the Israeli authorities are obligated to respect the Palestinian people's right to self-determination, and they must immediately halt their violations by stopping all actions and measures that prevent or impede the Palestinian people from declaring their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital, including an immediate end to the occupation in all its forms and related practices aimed at prolonging the occupation and continuing the denial of the Palestinian people's inherent rights."
