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Responding to the statement issued by Australia’s Attorney-General, Mark Dreyfus KC MP, regarding his current trip to Israel and the unlawfully Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) this week, the Australian Centre for International Justice (ACIJ) is deeply concerned by the legal implications associated with such a blatantly political trip. It is alarming that this woeful and ill-informed decision was made despite significant international legal rulings issued by international courts against Israel and Israeli officials in the past twelve months, which also placed clear and unequivocal obligations on third States, of which Australia is no exception. These include orders by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC). 

The Australian Centre for International Justice (ACIJ) welcomes the landmark ruling from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on 19 July 2024, which categorised Israel’s 57-year occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) as unlawful. In its historic Advisory Opinion, the ICJ also held that Israel’s policies and practices in the OPT have amounted to annexation of significant portions of the OPT. The ICJ found that the consequences of Israel’s illegal occupation and annexation of the OPT has resulted in the severe deprivation of the rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination and to be free from the prohibitions of racial discrimination, segregation and apartheid.

The Australian Centre for International Justice (ACIJ) welcomes the announcement overnight from the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) that he has made an application for arrest warrants in the Situation in Palestine. ACIJ calls on the Australian Government: to commit to supporting steps taken to ensure accountability for crimes committed on the territory of the State of Palestine; to rescind in full the Morrison Government’s 2020 attempt to stop an investigation at the ICC from being opened, and; to declare its support for the independence of the Court as it comes under attack. As a party to the Rome Statute, the Australian Government is legally bound to fully cooperate with any warrant issued. 

The Australian Centre for International Justice (ACIJ) and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) have called on the Australian government to cancel any visa issued to Doron Almog, a former major-general of the Israeli army.  

In a historic decision, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ruled that South Africa’s claim that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza is plausible. ACIJ calls on the Australian Government to issue a public statement welcoming this decision and committ to complying with its duty to prevent genocide.