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UN court finds Jewish settlements in Palestine are a “violation of international law”

The United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared this Friday that the control exercised by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories – the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem – “is in violation of international law.” In particular, in terms of the exploitation of natural resources and the settler settlement policy. According to the judges, all this “constitutes a permanent annexation that prevents the self-determination of Palestinians,” said the UN court, which also urged the Israeli government to stop colonization activity as well as repair the damage caused by the occupation.

The judges declared that Israel “must halt settlements and expel settlers” and urged all states “not to recognize Israel’s presence in the occupied territories as legal.” In addition, the ICJ called on the General Assembly and the UN Security Council to decide “what should be done to put an end to this situation.”

The advisory opinion issued by the ICJ on the “legal consequences” of 57 years of Israeli control in the “Palestinian territory occupied since 1967” is not binding. However, it could contribute to international community pressure on Israel to find a two-state solution.

The case predates the current open war in Gaza, and came before the court in 2022 at the request of the UN General Assembly. TIJ President Nawaf Salam has said that “the movement restrictions imposed by Israel on Palestinians, and the demolition of their homes, are acts of systematic discrimination.” He has also said that this prevents Palestinians from exercising their rights. “Occupation cannot be used as a permanent fact.”

To form its opinion, the court will have to review “the occupation, settlements and conditions of annexation of the Palestinian territories, as well as the demographic composition, the character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem and the adoption (by Israel) of legislation and related discriminatory measures,” according to the General Assembly’s request. For the Jewish state, these are not occupied territories from a legal point of view as they are called “disputed territories.”

Last February, nearly fifty UN member states presented charges in the case, demanding that the ICJ declare the occupation illegal. Palestinian representative to the UN Riyad Mansour assured the court that its decision “will contribute to an immediate end to the occupation, paving the way for a just and lasting peace.” Israel did not attend the hearing, but sent a five-page statement published by the court, calling the advisory opinion “harmful” to resolving the conflict.

Israel occupied Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem – territories that Palestine claims as its own state – during the 1967 war. Since then, it has been building and expanding Israeli settlements in the West Bank. In 2004, the ICJ itself declared the Israeli separation wall across much of the West Bank “contrary to international law”. It also demanded its destruction and compensation for affected families. Since this was, as it is now, a non-binding decision, Israel said it did not accept it.

The fate of the occupied territories is a separate file from the one presented to the ICJ by South Africa three months after the war in Gaza began. Following an attack by Hamas on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023, around 1,200 people, including civilians and soldiers, were killed and around 250 were taken hostage. To date more than 38,700 people have died due to attacks by Israeli troops in Gaza. South Africa argued that Israel allegedly has “genocidal intent” against the Palestinian population, and invoked the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide (1948), which both are part of and which they must respect. Since then, the ICJ has ordered three rounds of mandatory precautionary measures to prevent acts of genocide against the Palestinian population, including famine.