The UN Supreme Court is holding a final day of hearings on Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories.

The United Nations Supreme Court heard a final day of arguments on Monday over the legality of Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian territories. Hearings that have increased pressure on Israel at a time when attention focuses on the war in Gaza.

The hearings, which began last Monday, are the first time the court, the International Court of Justice, has been asked to advise on the issue, which has been the subject of years of debate and resolution at the United Nations. It will probably take months before the court issues an opinion.

Last week’s sessions, held at the Peace Palace in The Hague, focused on the legality of what representatives of the Palestinians said was Israel’s “prolonged occupation, colonization and annexation” of Palestinian territories, particularly the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The representatives, including a team of leading lawyers, said Israel had violated Palestinian rights with impunity. Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said Israel has subjected Palestinians to discrimination for decades, giving them the choice between “displacement, subjugation or death.”

Israel did not appear at the hearings, but in a written response it rejected the questions raised in the proceedings as biased.

The six-day hearings, which included speakers from more than 50 countries, are part of a joint global effort to examine the legality of Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians.

The procedure has become urgent due to the Israeli war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Health authorities in Gaza say Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 29,000 people, the majority of them women and children, and led to what the United Nations says is a humanitarian disaster.

Since the start of the war, Israeli forces have also rounded up hundreds of Palestinians in raids on the West Bank. Deadly violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers has increased, as have Palestinian attacks on Israelis.

The United States has been a staunch defender of Israel internationally, telling the court last Wednesday that Israel faced “very real security needs.” It also vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire, arguing that the motion could have disrupted negotiations over the release of hostages held by Hamas and called for a temporary halt of the fighting could have achieved.

But Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has posed a dilemma for the administration of President Biden, which has continued to provide military aid to Israel while expressing growing concerns about the treatment of the Palestinians.

Mr Biden has said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has been “over the top” in its handling of the war in Gaza. And on Friday, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said the US government was reversing the Trump administration’s policies and would now consider new Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories “contrary to international law.”

The final day of hearings at the U.N. court is scheduled to include arguments from representatives of Turkey, Spain, the African Union and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which represents 57 member states, most of which are Muslim-majority countries.