THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The U.N.’s highest court ruled Friday that Israel’s presence in occupied Palestinian territory is “illegal” and called on Israel to end its presence and immediately halt settlement construction, in an unprecedented, sweeping condemnation of the country’s control over land it captured 57 years ago.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quick to denounce the non-binding opinion by the International Court of Justice’s 15-judge panel, saying the territories are part of the Jewish people’s historic “homeland.” But the ruling’s broader implications could affect international opinion and galvanize calls for unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.
The judges pointed to a wide range of policies, including the construction and expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the exploitation of the areas’ natural resources, the annexation and imposition of permanent control over land, and discriminatory policies against Palestinians, all of which they argued violate international law.
The court said Israel does not have sovereignty over the territories and has violated international law prohibiting the acquisition of territory by force, thereby interfering with the Palestinian right to self-determination. It also said other countries are obliged “not to provide aid or assistance to the maintenance” of Israel’s presence in the territories. Israel must immediately stop building settlements and demolish existing ones, the court said, according to a summary of its more than 80-page opinion read by presiding judge Nawaf Salam.
The court said Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territories was illegal because it was “abusing its status as an occupying Power” and that its presence must end “as quickly as possible.”
The court’s opinion, sought by the UN General Assembly at the request of Palestine, came against the backdrop of Israel’s devastating military offensive against Gaza, triggered by a Hamas-led attack in southern Israel on October 7. In a separate case, the International Court of Justice is considering a South African claim that Israel’s military actions in Gaza amount to genocide. Israel strongly denies this..
The court said the UN General Assembly and the Security Council – over which Israel’s powerful ally the United States has veto power – should consider “the precise means” of ending Israel’s presence in those territories.
Israel did not send a lawyer to the hearings because it typically believes UN and international tribunals are unfair and biased. Instead, it submitted written submissions saying the questions posed to the tribunal were biased and did not address Israel’s security concerns. Israeli officials say the tribunal’s intervention could undermine a peace process that has been stalled for more than a decade.
“The Jewish people are not conquerors of their own land, neither of their eternal capital, Jerusalem, nor of the lands of their ancestors in Judea and Samaria,” Netanyahu said in a statement issued by his office, using a Biblical term to refer to the West Bank. “No erroneous decision in The Hague can distort this historical truth, nor can it challenge the legality of Israeli settlements throughout our homeland.”
Speaking outside the court, Riad Malki, an adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, called the verdict “a turning point for Palestine, justice and international law.”
He said other countries must now “adhere to the clear obligations” set out by the court “to prohibit any action in support of Israel’s illegal occupation.”
Hamas welcomed the court’s decision and said in a statement that it must respond by taking “serious measures on the ground.”
Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Middle East war, and the Palestinians want an independent state in all three territories.
Israel considers the West Bank a disputed territory and says its future should be determined through negotiations, but has transferred residents to settlements to consolidate its control. It annexed East Jerusalem in a move not internationally recognized, and withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005 but has maintained a blockade of it since Hamas took power in 2007. The international community generally considers all three areas to be occupied territory.
The court’s decision goes to the heart of Israel’s ambiguity in its territorial control. Despite pressure from settler groups to do so, Israel has not annexed the West Bank, but calls it part of its homeland and treats it as a de facto extension of the state. It has expropriated large parts of the area as “state land” along with the settlements. At the same time, Netanyahu’s government has repeatedly rejected the establishment of a Palestinian state. Abbas’s Palestinian Authority is limited to control of fragmented enclaves scattered across the West Bank.
The Palestinians, February hearingAt the hearing, which was attended by 49 other countries and three international organizations, Malki condemned Israel for apartheid and called on the UN Supreme Court to declare that Israel’s occupation of lands desired by the Palestinian people is illegal and must end immediately and unconditionally if any hope for a two-state future is to survive.
Erwin van Veen, a senior fellow at the Clingendael think tank in The Hague, said before the verdict that a ruling that Israel’s policies violate international law “will further isolate Israel internationally, at least from a legal point of view.”
He said such a ruling would eliminate “all legal, political and philosophical justification for Israel’s expansion plans.” He also said it could lead to an increase in the number of countries, especially in the West, following the recent example of Spain, Norway and Ireland recognizing a Palestinian state.
This is not the first time the International Court of Justice has been asked to give its legal opinion on Israeli policies. Twenty years ago, the court ruled in favor of Israel’s West Bank Separation Wall It condemned the move as “a violation of international law.” Israel boycotted the process, calling it politically motivated.
Israel says the wall is a security measure. Palestinians say the structure frequently encroaches on areas of the West Bank and amounts to a large-scale land grab.
The court said Israel’s construction of settlements in the West Bank violates international law, which bans states from resettling people into occupied territory.
According to the anti-settlement monitoring group Peace Now, Israel has established more than 100 settlements. Pro-settlement groups say the settler population in the West Bank has grown by more than 15 percent in the past five years to more than 500,000 Israelis. Settler residents are Israeli citizens, governed by Israeli law, and served by government ministries, agencies, banks, and other businesses, making them effectively integrated into Israel.
Israel has also annexed East Jerusalem and considers the entire city its capital. An additional 200,000 Israelis live in settlements built in East Jerusalem that Israel considers to be neighborhoods of the capital. Face systematic discriminationThis makes it difficult to build new homes or expand existing ones.
The international community considers all settlements illegal or an obstacle to peace because they are built on land that Palestinians want for their state.
Netanyahu’s hardline government is dominated by settlers and their political supporters. Netanyahu has told Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a former settler leader, Unprecedented authority Regarding settlement policy, Smotrich has used his position to push for settlement expansion and legalization plans to strengthen Israel’s control over the West Bank.
