The International Court of Justice in the Hague ruled Friday Israel’s settlements in the Occupied Palestinian territory are illegal. The court said Israel is obligated under international law to immediately end the occupation. File photo by International justice of Court/ UPI. | License Photo
The International Court of Justice ruled Friday in an advisory opinion that Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory are illegal under international law.
The court decision said Israel is obligated under international law to “end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as rapidly as possible.” Advertisement
The decision also said Israel is obligated to immediately cease all new settlement activities, to evacuate all settlers from the occupied Palestinian territories and to make reparation for the damage caused to all the natural or legal persons concerned in those territories.
The court opinion added that all States, international organizations and the United Nations are under obligations to not recognize as legal “the situation arising from the unlawful presence of the State of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by the continued presence of the State of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”
In a statement released with its opinion the International Court of Justice said, “the effects of Israel’s policies and practices, and its exercise of sovereignty over certain parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, constitute an obstruction to the exercise by the Palestinian people of its right to self-determination.” Advertisement
The court said Israel’s actions are a prolonged deprivation “of the Palestinian people of its right to self-determination” and constitutes “a breach of this fundamental right.”
Israel, the court said, cannot use the occupation to leave Palestinians in an indefinite state of suspension and uncertainty denying their right to self-determination “while integrating parts of their territory into the occupying Power’s own territory.”
Palestinian National Initiative general secretary Mustafa Barghouti, hailed the court’s opinion as a “great victory for the Palestinian people and a major blow to Israel.”
B’Tselem, a Jerusalem-based organization that documents human rights violations in Palestinian territories, said in a statement, that there were “no more excuses” for the settlements.
“The international community must force Israel to end the occupation,” it said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, said the ICJ decision was “false.”
“The Jewish people are not conquerors in their own land,” he said.
Israel does not recognize the legitimacy of the ICJ. And the court has no mechanism to force Israeli compliance with the ruling.
