UN court: Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory ‘illegal’
Israel’s decades-long occupation of the Palestinian territories is illegal and needs to end “as rapidly as possible”, the UN’s top court said Friday.
The UN’s General Assembly asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in late 2022 to give an “advisory opinion” on the “legal consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem [Al-Quds]”.
“The court has found that Israel’s continued presence in the Palestinian Territories is illegal,” ICJ presiding judge Nawaf Salam said Friday, adding: “Israel must end the occupation as rapidly as possible.”
Evacuation of settlers
The ICJ added that Israel was “under an obligation to cease immediately all new settlement activities and to evacuate all settlers” from occupied land.
Israel’s policies and practices including the building of new settlements and Israel’s continued maintenance of a wall between the territories “amount to annexation of large parts” of the occupied territory, it said.
‘Great day for Palestine’
Palestinian Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Varsen Aghabekian Shahin hailed “a great day for Palestine” while Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the ICJ ruling as ‘decision of lies’.
“This is a great day for Palestine, historically and legally,” Aghabekian told AFP, speaking on behalf of the Palestinian Foreign Ministry.
“This is the highest judicial body in the world and it has presented a very detailed analysis of what is going on through Israel’s prolonged occupation and colonization of the Palestinian territory in violation of international law.”
The ICJ held a week-long session in February to hear submissions from countries following the request – supported by most countries within the assembly.
Most speakers during the hearings called on Israel to end its 57-year occupation. They warned a prolonged occupation posed an “extreme danger” to stability in the Middle East and beyond.
Knesset resolution on
Palestinian state
On Wednesday, Israel’s parliament, Knesset, voted 68-9 to pass a resolution that rejects the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Mustafa Barghouti, the secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative, condemned the move, saying “This resolution represents a rejection of peace with Palestinians and an official declaration of the death of [the] Oslo
agreement.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said the resolution “once again showed the world the racist nature of the Zionists’ usurping regime”.
The Palestinian resistance movements of Hamas and Islamic Jihad also called on the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to withdraw its recognition of Israel.
“The leaderships viewed that, in light of the Knesset’s declared position rejecting the Palestinian people’s right to establish their independent state, the national collective is required today to take a unified stance to confront these attempts to erase the Palestinian cause,” they said in a joint statement.