BEIRUT — Lebanon’s Foreign Affairs Ministry hailed on Saturday the advisory opinion issued on Friday by the International Court of Justice on the legal consequences arising from Israel’s settlement policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem.

The ministry said in a statement that "this advisory opinion confirms the illegality of Israel's settlement policies and occupation of Palestinian lands, and supports the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, and the necessity of achieving the establishment of an independent, sovereign, and viable Palestinian state."

It called on the international community and concerned countries to “take advantage of this legal basis to put pressure on Israel to end its attacks, violations, and displacement policies, and oblige it to immediately stop all settlement activities, evacuate all settlers, and end the occupation of the Palestinian territories, in preparation for launching a serious political path that pushes in the direction of a two-state solution, based on the relevant international resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative launched at the Beirut Summit in 2002.”

On Friday, the top U.N. court ruled that Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories is illegal. In its non-binding advisory opinion, the Hague-based court found that Israel was "under an obligation to cease immediately all new settlement activities and to evacuate all settlers" from occupied land. 

The ruling has drawn added attention because it comes against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.