Jakarta. Indonesia is getting ready to address a public hearing on the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) next week.

The UN General Assembly previously requested the ICJ to give an advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s prolonged occupation in Palestine. The ICJ’s advisory opinion is said to carry great legal weight despite not being legally binding. 

The ICJ will hold a week-long public hearing on this advisory opinion starting on Feb. 19. As many as 52 states -- as well as three international organizations -- will take turns to speak before the ICJ. Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi will deliver an oral statement at the Hague-based court on Feb. 23 afternoon local time, according to ICJ’s official website. Aside from Indonesia, countries such as Qatar and the UK are scheduled to deliver their statements later that day. China and Malaysia will have their turns the day before.

Just a week prior to the public hearing, several civil society organizations held a closed-door forum with the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Jakarta. The organizations include the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS) and Amnesty International Indonesia, among others. The meeting sought to make sure that Indonesia could deliver a powerful argument at the UN’s top court.

“I would say that the talks with [the Foreign Affairs Ministry] went well. We already told the government what Indonesia must include when it takes the stage at the ICJ on Feb. 23,” Nadine Sherani Salsabila, who handles international advocacy matters at KontraS, told reporters shortly after the meeting.

The public hearing that Retno will soon attend is a different track than what South Africa is pursuing. South Africa not long ago brought a genocide case against Israel at the ICJ. Indonesia cannot join this lawsuit as it is not a signatory to the Genocide Convention, which becomes the basis of South Africa’s lawsuit. Even so, Indonesia has voiced its support for what South Africa is doing at the ICJ.

Wirya Adiwena, the deputy director at Amnesty International Indonesia, also told the press that Jakarta’s fight for Palestinians should not stop at an advisory opinion.

“Hopefully, Indonesia can urge for a ceasefire and also to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza. I doubt we can achieve this just by advisory opinion alone. So we hope that the Foreign Affairs Ministry will use all the modalities that they have in international forums to push for these,” Wirya said.

The Gaza health ministry reported over the weekend that the death toll kept on climbing up. Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed at least 28,064 Palestinians since the conflict escalated on Oct. 7.

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