International Court of Justice has established that Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued this Friday, at the request of the UN General Assembly, a non-binding advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s practices and policies in the occupied Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The president of the ICJ, Nawaf Salam, has read the advisory opinion, in which the judges of the highest UN court have established that Israel’s settlement policy violates numerous international norms, such as the IV Geneva Convention, and that Israel’s practices in those territories are in violation of international treaties. In fact “Enclosure” of the greater part of them.

Salam has also stated that the occupation of the West Bank establishes “systematic discrimination and segregation, and apartheid” due to Israel’s practices of quarantining Palestinians from Israelis, restricting their movements, expelling and confiscating them from their lands, and demolishing their homes. Furthermore, the Court has also opined that Israel’s exploitation of Palestinian resources and restricting Palestinian access to their resources are in violation of international law and Israel’s obligations as an occupying power.

The ICJ has held that Israel’s policies and practices violate the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, including in the disposal of their land and resources.

The Hague-based UN court answers questions posed by the General Assembly in December 2022 as follows: “What are the legal consequences arising from Israel’s persistent violation of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, its long-term occupation, settlement and annexation of the occupied Palestinian territory since 1967, including measures aimed at changing the demographic composition, character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and the adoption of related discriminatory legislation and measures?” He also asked: “How do Israel’s above policies and practices (…) affect the legal status of the occupation, and what legal consequences arise from this situation for all States and the United Nations?”

UN Recommendations to States

The ICJ judges have called on all UN member states not to recognise any changes on the ground, as Israel’s “continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territories is illegal”, and reminded them not to provide assistance to Israel to maintain that presence. Likewise, all states must distinguish between Israel and the occupied territories. Therefore, they have concluded that Israel must stop building settlements and evacuate existing settlements, and end its “illegal presence as soon as possible”. It also has an obligation to compensate Palestinians for the damage caused by the occupation.

To formulate their opinion, the judges have taken into account international humanitarian law, the Charter of the United Nations, resolutions of the organization’s Security Council, among other criteria; in addition, last February they heard arguments from 52 countries, including Palestine, Spain and the United States – Israel was not among them – and three international organizations (the Arab League, the African Union and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation).

Of those countries, almost half accused Israel of committing crimes against humanity such as apartheid and persecution against Palestinians within the framework of its occupation. Spain condemned a “system of jurisdictional fragmentation in the context of a structure of institutional discrimination” and listed violations of international law by Israeli forces, such as the detention of children or settlements.

Israel seized the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six Day War and has maintained a military occupation of this Palestinian territory ever since. However, the law of occupation does not apply in those territories, nor does it comply with its legal obligations as an occupying power.

In response to the ICJ opinion, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described Judea and Samaria (West Bank) as ancestral lands via social networks. He has also defended “the legitimacy of Israeli settlements in all areas of the homeland.”

For his part, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called on the international community to force Israel to stop “its colonial project” in the Palestinian territories after the ICJ deemed the occupation “illegal”. “We call on the international community to force the occupying power Israel to completely and immediately end the occupation and its colonial project without any restrictions or conditions,” he said in a statement, quoted by EFE agency. He added that the ICJ’s opinion “renews the hope of the Palestinian people for a future free from colonialism, on the path to achieving their full and non-negotiable right to self-determination and liberation.”