Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud, the former Jordanian ambassador to the United Nations who has said that Israel is at war with the “people of Gaza,” is slated to be sworn in as a judge of the International Court of Justice on Wednesday, the court said.
Based in The Hague, the court is the main judicial arm of the United Nations.
Hmoud ran unopposed for the seat on the court and will serve out the term of Nawaf Salam, who resigned in January to become Lebanon’s prime minister.
On Oct. 30, 2023, less than a month after the Oct. 7 attacks, Hmoud told the U.N. Security Council that Israel was guilty of “ethnic cleansing” and “war crimes.”
“The killing will not stop as long as Israel continues to hear justifications from some for its crimes,” he said. “It has been covered and protected without having to show any accountability. Regrettably, so long as that continues and its actions continue to be met with silence, Israel will be emboldened and will continue committing such acts without being deterred or held accountable.”
He added that “while throughout history there have been countries that have committed grave atrocities in the countries they occupied, until now I had never heard of an occupying state playing the victim, as Israel is doing today.”
