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In Defence of UNRWA, OIC Presents Pleadings Before ICJ

Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)

02-05-2025

The General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) presented its case on May 02, 2025, before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, seeking an advisory opinion on Israel's obligations regarding the presence and activities of the United Nations, other international organizations, and third states in relation to the occupied Palestinian territories. This request was made at the behest of the UN General Assembly.

Through its submissions, the OIC aims to compel Israel, as the occupying power, to lift the restrictions imposed on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

The OIC General Secretariat was represented during the session by the Assistant Secretary-General for Palestine and Al-Quds Affairs, Amb. Samir Bakr Diab. In his address to the Court, he expressed hope that the advisory opinion would provide an opportunity to affirm Israel's responsibility for aggression against the Gaza Strip, bring an end to the occupation of Palestinian territory, and eliminate the obstacles in its path. He highlighted the recent actions taken by Israel against the operations of United Nations organizations in the occupied Palestinian territory, emphasizing the OIC's rejection of these measures. This includes the racist and illegal laws that target UNRWA and the attempts to restrict or eliminate its role. He called upon all states to enhance their political, legal, and financial support for the Agency.

Amb. Diab underscored the seriousness of the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, stressing the need to compel Israel to permanently cease its aggression, facilitate the return of displaced persons to their homes, withdraw its occupying forces, open all crossings, and ensure the adequate delivery of humanitarian aid throughout the Gaza Strip. He asserted that these actions must comply with Israel's obligations as the occupying power under international law, international humanitarian law, and relevant United Nations resolutions.

On behalf of the OIC, he condemned the starvation and scorched-earth policies aimed at forcing the Palestinian people to abandon their homeland and rejected any Israeli attempts to alter the demographic composition of the Palestinian territory.

Following Amb. Diab's speech, Ms. Shmeileh Gendroe, the OIC's Legal Advisor, presented the legal aspects of the OIC's argument. She pointed out that the laws passed by the Israeli Knesset on October 28, 2024, which attempted to terminate UNRWA's activities in the occupied Palestinian territories, in addition to the unilateral withdrawal from the exchange of letters signed in Al-Quds on June 14, 1967, on November 3, 2024, are illegal and inconsistent with Articles 2, paragraph 5, and 105 of the United Nations Charter. These articles require Israel, as the occupying power, to assist UNRWA in all its activities and grant its agents the privileges and immunities necessary to carry out their functions.