Policies and practices used Israel In the occupation Palestinian Territory It violates international law, united nationsThe Supreme Court said so in a landmark ruling on Friday.
of International Court of Justice In an opinion read by Justice Nawaf Salam, The UN General Assembly president condemned Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, and “their associated administrations,” as being built and maintained in violation of international law.
The International Court of Justice said Israel should halt all new settlement activity and evict settlers from Palestinian territory.
It also said Israel has systematically discriminated against Palestinians and characterized its occupation of the territories as “de facto annexation”, and that Israel’s exploitation of natural resources in the Palestinian territories likewise violates international law.
The court said its “unlawful policies and practices” “violate the Israeli government’s obligation to respect the right of self-determination of the Palestinian people.”
of International Court of JusticeIsraeli based in The Hague, Netherlands Occupation of Palestinian Territory continue request From the United Nations General Assembly.
The General Assembly will be held in January 2023. Attack on October 7 And the war began Gaza Stripoffers opinions on Israel’s “policies and practices” towards the Palestinians and the legal status of the occupation of Palestinian territory. West Bank, East Jerusalem And Gaza.
“The Jewish people are not the conquerors of their own land,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on Friday, referring to Jerusalem and the West Bank, and dismissed the International Court of Justice’s decision as a “mistake.”
Benny Gantz, a moderate Israeli politician and former war cabinet member, said the views “undermine regional security and stability” and that Israel would “continue to defend our country from those who seek to destroy us.”
In contrast, the Palestinian Authority’s Foreign Ministry called the ruling a “watershed moment,” adding that it meant “the international community not only reaffirms the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, but also has an obligation to see that this right is immediately implemented.”
Mustafa Barghouti, executive director of the Palestinian National Initiative and a veteran Palestinian political activist, hailed the ICJ’s ruling as “a great victory for the Palestinian people and a major blow to Israel.”
“There are no more excuses. The international community must force Israel to end the occupation,” B’Tselem, a Jerusalem-based nonprofit that documents human rights violations in the Palestinian territories, said in a statement on Friday.
The court’s advisory opinion is not legally binding but could have major political implications as Israel faces growing backlash and isolation over deadly military attacks in Gaza, where some 39,000 people, including thousands of children, have been killed since the war began, according to local health officials.
This is the Israeli parliament, the Knesset. The overwhelming majority agreed The United Nations passed a resolution rejecting the establishment of a Palestinian state, despite growing pressure from the international community, including the United States, which has publicly supported the idea of a two-state solution for decades.
Friday’s International Court of Justice ruling is separate from a separate case brought by South Africa at the court. Accusing Israel of genocide In their attack on Gaza, the United States and Israel Denied.
The General Assembly had asked the International Court of Justice to rule on “the legal consequences arising from Israel’s continuing violation of the right of self-determination of the Palestinian people, as well as its prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967.”
It also asked the court to comment on how Israeli policies and practices have affected “the legal status of the occupation” and what the legal consequences might be “for all States and the United Nations.”
Israel Occupied In the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. In 2005, facing international and domestic pressure, Israel The Palestinian Authority withdrew its troops and thousands of Israeli settlers from Gaza and brought the Gaza Strip under its administration while continuing its occupation of the West Bank and Jerusalem.
In 2006, Hamas was elected to power and replaced the Palestinian Authority as the governing body in Gaza. Israel responded by significantly strengthening its control over Gaza’s borders, coastline, and airspace. Blockade It has crippled Gaza’s economy for 17 years and had widespread and devastating effects on the daily life of Palestinian civilians. Israel says the blockade is necessary to keep residents safe from Hamas.
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have built vast settlements across the West Bank, many of which have displaced Palestinian communities, and which the international community considers largely illegal.
In March, Israel also approved the seizure of about five square miles in the Jordan Valley, the largest land seizure in the West Bank in decades. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric called the move “a step in the wrong direction,” adding that “the direction we are heading is to find a negotiated two-state solution.”
Meanwhile, Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem, home to the city’s most sensitive holy sites, is not internationally recognised.
As an occupying power, Israel’s actions within its territories are expected to conform to the rules of international law governing occupation.
Netanyahu is I said before Israel does not recognize the legitimacy of arguments at the International Court of Justice, and he denounced the case as part of a “Palestinian attempt to impose” a political settlement on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict without negotiations.
