The United Nations’ highest court said on Friday (19) that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements there are illegal and should be withdrawn as soon as possible, in its strongest findings to date on the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
The advisory opinion by judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), known as the World Court, was not binding but carries weight under international law and may weaken support for Israel.
Nawaf Salam, president of the ICJ in The Hague, read out the nonbinding advisory opinion issued by the 15-judge panel on Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory on Friday.
The judges pointed to a wide list of policies – including the building and expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, use of the area’s natural resources, the annexation and imposition of permanent control over lands and discriminatory policies against Palestinians – all of which it said violated international law.
Meanwhile, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office issued a statement in which it called the ruling a “decision of lies” . Numerous Israeli cabinet ministers as well as settler leaders roundly denounced the ruling, with some calling for the immediate formal annexation of the West Bank in response.
“The Jewish people are not occupiers in their own land — not in our eternal capital Jerusalem, not in the land of our ancestors in Judea and Samaria,” Netanyahu said.
In May, the ICJ had also ordered Israel to halt its offensive on Rafah, a city in southern Gaza, citing “immense risk” to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians taking shelter there. But Israel has continued its attacks on Gaza, including Rafah, in defiance of the UN court. (Agencies)