The policies and practices used by Israel in its occupation of Palestinian territories constitute a violation of international law, the United Nations Supreme Court said in a landmark opinion on Friday.
The International Court of Justice said in its opinion, read by Judge Nawaf Salam, president of the world body, that Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as “the regime associated with them” were established and maintained in violation of international law.
The ICJ said Israel should cease all new settlement activities and evacuate settlers from Palestinian territories.
He also said that Israel systematically discriminates against Palestinians and calls the occupation of the territories a “de facto annexation,” and that Israel’s exploitation of the natural resources of the Palestinian territories also violates international law.
Its “illegal policies and practices” constitute “a violation of the Israeli government’s obligation to respect the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination,” the court said.
The International Court of Justice, based in The Hague in the Netherlands, has considered the legal consequences of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories, following a request from the United Nations General Assembly.
The General Assembly had requested the Court in January 2023, before the Hamas attack of 7 October and the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, to issue an opinion on Israeli “policies and practices” towards the Palestinians and on the legal status of the occupation of Palestinian territories, including the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza.
In a statement released Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the ICJ ruling “wrong,” saying that “the Jewish people are not conquerors in their own land,” referring to Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Benny Gantz, a more moderate Israeli politician and former war cabinet member, said that this view “undermines the security and stability of the region” and that Israel “will continue to defend itself against those who seek to destroy us.”
The Palestinian Authority’s Foreign Ministry called the opinion a “watershed moment,” adding that the decision meant that “the international community has an obligation not only to reaffirm the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, but also to ensure that this right is implemented immediately.”
Mustafa Barghouti, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative and a veteran Palestinian political activist, hailed the ICJ opinion 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 Friday.
The court’s advisory opinion is not legally binding, but it could have significant political impact as Israel faces growing backlash and isolation over its deadly military offensive in Gaza, where nearly 39,000 people, including thousands of children, have been killed since the start of the war, according to local health officials.
It also comes just a day after the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution rejecting the creation of a Palestinian state, despite growing pressure from the international community, including the United States, which has officially supported the idea of a two-state solution for decades.
Friday’s ICJ opinion is separate from another ongoing case brought before the court by South Africa accusing Israel of committing genocide during its Gaza offensive, a charge denied by the United States and Israel.
The General Assembly had asked the ICJ to rule on “the legal consequences arising from Israel’s continued violation of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, its prolonged occupation, colonization and annexation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967.”
It also asked the court to provide its views on how Israel’s policies and practices affected the “legal status of the occupation” and what the legal consequences might be “for all States and the United Nations.”
Israel occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in 1967 in the Six-Day War. In 2005, facing international and domestic pressure, Israel withdrew its troops and thousands of Israeli settlers from Gaza, leaving the enclave under Palestinian Authority rule while continuing its occupation of the West Bank and Jerusalem.
In 2006, Hamas was elected to power, replacing the Palestinian Authority as the governing body of Gaza. In response, Israel dramatically tightened its control over Gaza’s borders, coastline and airspace, imposing a blockade that has crippled Gaza’s economy and had a devastating impact on the daily lives of Palestinian civilians for 17 years. Israel claims that the blockade is necessary to ensure the security of its population from Hamas.
In the West Bank, hundreds of thousands of Israelis have built vast settlements, many of which have displaced Palestinian communities. The international community largely considers these settlements illegal.
In March, Israel also approved the appropriation of nearly 13 square kilometers of land in the Jordan Valley, the largest land grab in the West Bank in decades. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric called the move “a step in the wrong direction,” adding: “The direction we want to take 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 recognized.
As an occupying power, Israel’s actions in the territories must be consistent with the rules of international law governing occupation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already said that Israel does not recognize the legitimacy of the ICJ talks. He denounced the case as a “Palestinian attempt to dictate the outcome” of a political settlement on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict without negotiations.
