Man holding Palestinian flag outside the Peace Palace in The Hague ahead of Advisory Opinion reading. (Credit: Remko de Waal/AFP)
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled 11-4 against the legality of Israel’s occupation system in Palestinian territories and 14-1 asserting that Israel must cease and reverse settlement activities on Friday — while calling on all states to abstain from recognizing the status quo as legal.
“The sustained abuse by Israel of its position as an occupying power through annexation and an assertion of permanent control over the Occupied Palestinian Territories and a continued frustration of the rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination violates fundamental principles of international law and renders Israel’s presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories unlawful,” said Judge Nawaf Salam of Lebanon, presiding over the session where the Advisory Opinion was delivered. The opinion was requested by the UN General Assembly in December 2022 to address the legal consequences of Israel's policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.
The ruling comes during a peak year for Israeli land seizures in the West Bank in three decades — 23.7 sq km (9.15 sq miles) of Palestinian land has been sized since the beginning of the Israeli offensive in Gaza, according to Peace Now, a nonprofit organization that monitors land confiscation in the West Bank.
“In the present case, the public property confiscated or requisitioned for the benefit of Israeli settlements benefits the civilian population of settlers to the detriment of the local Palestinian population,” Judge Salam read.
“The Court concludes that Israel’s land policies are not in conformity with articles 46, 52 and 55 of the Hague Regulations,” the Advisory Opinion continued.
Article 46 prohibits the confiscation of private property, Article 52 dictates that requisitions and services may only be demanded based on the needs of the occupying army and must be fairly compensated, while Article 55 says that occupying powers must safeguard the capital of occupied properties and administer them per international laws.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the Israeli army and settlers have displaced 1,285 Palestinians and destroyed 641 structures in the West Bank since Oct. 7.
Addressing these effects of Israeli occupation, the ICJ asserted that Israel, “has an obligation to bring an end to its presence in the occupied Palestinian Territories as rapidly as possible.” This includes ceasing all new settlement activity, repealing discriminatory legislation as well as providing full reparations in the form of returning land, evacuating settlers and allowing displaced Palestinians to return.
The Advisory Opinion reaffirmed the General Assembly’s previous calls on international organizations and agencies not “to recognize, or co-operate with or assist in any manner in, any measures undertaken by Israel to exploit the resources of the occupied territories or to effect any changes in the demographic composition or geographic character or institutional structure of those territories.”
The ICJ called for a two-state solution to bring an end to the Israeli-Palestinian issue and establish stability and security in the region.
“This is a great day for Palestine, historically and legally," Palestinian state minister for foreign affairs Varsen Aghabekian Shahin told AFP, speaking on behalf of the Palestinian foreign ministry.
"This is the highest judicial body in the world and it has presented a very detailed analysis of what is going on through Israel's prolonged occupation and colonization of the Palestinian territory in violation of international law."
This case dates back to December 2022, before the current Gaza war, and brought together a record number of participants. More than 50 states and three intergovernmental organizations — the League of Arab States, the African Union and the Islamic Conference Organisation — presented oral arguments.
