On Friday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) adopted a landmark decision declaring Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as its settlements there, to be contrary to international law. This is the most comprehensive position taken by the world’s highest court on an issue that has been debated at the United Nations for decades.
Although the Court’s advisory opinion is not binding, it carries considerable authority and legal weight and can influence international opinion, even if it does not directly alter Israeli policy. ICJ President Nawaf Salam, who delivered the opinion at the Peace Palace in The Hague, said: “The Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and the regime associated with them were established and are maintained in violation of international law,” reported the NewYorkTimes
The Court also called for Israel’s presence in these territories to end “as soon as possible,” and stressed that Israel is “under an obligation to make full reparation for the damage caused by its internationally wrongful acts to all natural or legal persons concerned.”
Heightened Attention Due to Ongoing Conflict
The ICJ’s advisory opinion has attracted increased attention due to the ongoing conflict in Gaza, which has lasted for over nine months. In addition, South Africa brought a separate genocide case against Israel in December, accusing the country of misconduct during the Gaza war. In response to the genocide case, the Court issued its first rulings earlier this year, ordering Israel to limit its attacks in Gaza and end its military offensive in Rafah, a town in southern Gaza.
The UN General Assembly had requested the ICJ’s opinion in 2022 on the legal consequences of Israel’s “prolonged occupation, colonization, and annexation” of territories captured in the 1967 Middle East war, including the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the ICJ’s decision, calling it “untrue” and asserting that Israeli settlement in these areas is legal. He declared: “The Jewish people are not occupiers on their own land – neither in our eternal capital, Jerusalem, nor in the footsteps of our ancestors in Judea and Samaria.” Israel’s far-right Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, echoed this sentiment on social networks, advocating the annexation of occupied land by Israel.
Palestinian Reaction and Historical Context
Many Palestinians and the Palestinian Authority welcomed the Court’s opinion as a “victory for justice.” The Palestinian Authority stressed that the opinion “affirms that the Israeli occupation is illegal.”
Israel annexed East Jerusalem decades ago, a decision that has not been widely recognized internationally. The West Bank is considered a disputed territory by Israel, which wishes to decide its future status through negotiations. However, Israel has allowed hundreds of thousands of Jews to settle in the West Bank, an area that the Palestinians and many of Israel’s allies envisage as part of a future Palestinian state. Critics argue that settlements fragment the West Bank, complicating the feasibility of an eventual Palestinian state.
Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, dismantling the settlements there. However, since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, Israel and Egypt have imposed a partial blockade on the territory, and much of Gaza remains under Israeli military control.
ICJ Hearings and Wider International Participation
In February, the ICJ held hearings at the Peace Palace. Israel did not participate, but submitted a statement rejecting the proceedings as biased. Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki addressed the Court, accusing Israel of subjecting Palestinians to decades of discrimination and leaving them the choice between “displacement, enslavement, or death.”
More than 50 countries took part in the hearings, the majority siding with the Palestinian representatives. However, representatives from the USA, Great Britain, and Hungary, among Israel’s traditional allies, supported the latter. A representative of the US State Department said that Israel’s policy towards the Palestinians met “very real security needs.”
Settlement Policy and International Criticism
Israel’s settlement policy in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the government’s tolerance of violent land grabs by Jewish settlers, are the main issues addressed in the ICJ opinion. Successive Israeli governments have authorized some construction in these territories, but the current Netanyahu administration has intensified these efforts, planning thousands of new housing units. Since 1967, more than 500,000 Israelis have settled in the West Bank.
This detailed ICJ opinion underscores the international community’s focus on Israel’s actions in the occupied territories and highlights the ongoing debate on the legality and future of these settlements.
This article was produced with information published by the American newspaper NewYorkTimes.