TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Foreign Affairs Ministry said Indonesia would invite the international community and the United Nations (UN) to follow up on the recent advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Israel's settlement in Palestine. The Indonesian government believes that the advisory opinion is a historic one that meets the international community's expectations of the ICJ.

On Friday, July 19, the ICJ's 15-judge panel issued its opinion on the legal consequences of Israeli policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). The opinion is the result of the ICJ's deliberations on various legal opinions submitted by 49 countries and three international organizations during an open session on February 26.

The Advisory Opinion concluded, inter alia, that the continued presence of the State of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is unlawful and that it is therefore under an obligation to end its unlawful presence in the Territory as soon as possible.

The Advisory Opinion also stated that all countries and the United Nations are under an obligation not to recognize as legal the situation resulting from the unlawful presence of the State of Israel in the OPT.

L. Amrih Jinangkung, Director General for International Law and Treaties at the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that with this advisory opinion, the ICJ has upheld a principles-based international order.

"This historic advisory opinion fulfills the international community's high hopes for the Court," Amrih told a press conference at the Foreign Ministry building in Central Jakarta on Monday, July 22.

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi had earlier expressed the Indonesian government's support for the ICJ's advisory opinion. Retno stated that the opinion means that international law is on the side of the Palestinian people's struggle.

"Indonesia reiterates its call on Israel, as the occupying power, to continue its obligations to provide the fundamental rights of Palestinians living in the Occupied Palestinian Territory in keeping with the decision of the Court's fatwa," Retno said in a written statement on July 21.

The ICJ's advisory opinion also stated that Israel has an obligation to make reparations for the damage caused to all affected natural or legal persons in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The United Nations General Assembly, which requested the Advisory Opinion, is invited to consider the precise modalities and further measures required to put an end to Israel's unlawful presence in Palestine as soon as possible.

"Indonesia will call on the international community and the UN to jointly follow up on the advisory opinion and recognize the existence of the Palestinian state," Amrih said.

He noted that the ICJ's advisory opinion took into account the views of Indonesia and most countries as expressed at the hearing in The Hague, Netherlands, in February.

NABIILA AZZAHRA

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