Israel’s continuous occupation of occupied Palestinian land is illegal, according to the International Court of Justice, and it should terminate as soon as possible. The judge panel’s unenforceable expert decision on the Israeli rule of Palestinian land has been set out by Nawaf Salam, chairman of the International Court of Justice in The Hague yesterday.
The panel of judges cited a long range of regulations that they claimed infringed international standards. These include the development and enlargement of Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank as well as the utilization of the region’s basic assets. The list also included measures that discriminate against Palestinian people and acquire territory and impose everlasting rule over the region.
Israel does not have the authority to authority over those lands, the court stated. It is undermining the Palestinian people’s right to autonomy and breaking international norms prohibiting the acquisition of land by coercion.
It stated that other countries had an obligation to refrain from supporting or helping to keep Israel’s presence in the region. The short version of the over 80-page ruling handed out by Salam stated that Israel has to stop the development of new settlements and evacuate any existing ones. The court declared that Israel’s position in the occupied Palestinian land is illegal due to its misuse of its authority as an occupier. The court asserted that “Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the regime associated with them, have been established and are being maintained in violation of international law.”
World Court Ruling
The UNGA requested the court’s decision two years ago. The World Court, or International Court of Justice, is the highest UN tribunal for adjudicating conflicts between nations.
During a 1967 conflict, Israel took control of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem, regions that the Palestinian people need to employ their desire to become a state. Since then, it has constructed and gradually increased the number of settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Prior to its pullout in 2005, it established settlements in Gaza Strip as well. Palestine is regarded as Israeli-occupied by the United Nations and a large portion of the global society.
The view was dismissed by Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs as biased and basically incorrect. The press office of Israeli Prime Minister declared in an announcement that the ruling was based on falsehoods. According to Benjamin Netanyahu, it misrepresented the facts and claimed that Jews are not occupying their own country.
Despite the ICJ’s unenforceable verdict, human rights campaigners think it will be difficult for international leaders to fully ignore it.
The International Court of Justice is also debating claims that Israeli army is carrying out genocide in its conflict with Gaza in a different case that South Africa had filed. The ICJ has already issued a preliminary verdict, directing Tel Aviv to enhance emergency supplies and to put an end to provocation to genocidal acts.