By Lewis Jackson
SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia, New Zealand and Canada on Friday called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and asked Israel to respond to a United Nations court which last week ruled its occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements there were illegal.
“Israel must listen to the concerns of the international community,” the leader’s statement said.
“The protection of civilians is paramount and a requirement under international humanitarian law. Palestinian civilians cannot be made to pay the price of defeating Hamas. It must end.”
The leaders also said Israel needed to hold extremist settlers accountable for ongoing acts of violence against Palestinians, reverse its settlement program in the West Bank and work towards a two-state solution.
Israel’s embassy in Australia on Thursday said it condemned acts of violence against Palestinian communities.
Last week, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) said Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and its settlements there are illegal and should be withdrawn as soon as possible, its strongest findings to date on the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
The leader’s statement called on Israel to “respond substantively” to the ICJ.
Israel’s foreign ministry last week rejected the ICJ opinion as “fundamentally wrong” and one-sided, and repeated its stance that a political settlement in the region can only be reached by negotiations.
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem – areas of historic Palestine which the Palestinians want for a state – in the 1967 Middle East war and has since built settlements in the West Bank and steadily expanded them.
Israeli leaders argue the territories are not occupied in legal terms because they are on disputed lands, but the United Nations and most of the international community regard them as occupied territory.
The joint statement, the second since February, expressed concern about escalating violence between Israel and Hezbollah and said the risk of a wider regional war made a ceasefire in Gaza all the more urgent.
The statement came hours after U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris pressured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to help reach a Gaza ceasefire deal that would ease the suffering of Palestinian civilians, striking a tougher tone than President Joe Biden.
