Top UN court rules Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories 'unlawful', as Netanyahu slams 'false decision'
19 July 2024, 19:02
The top UN court has ruled that Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal and should end, in a landmark decision.
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Giving their ruling, judges at the International Court of Justice in the Hague cited Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The ruling is non-binding, but marks the first time that the court has ruled on the legal status of the territory that Israel took in the 1967 Arab-Israel war.
The case was launched well before the current conflict, which began over nine months ago.
Israel did not send a legal team to the hearings but submitted written comments. Its lawyers claimed that the questions put to the court were prejudiced, did not address Israeli security concerns, and could undermine the peace process.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hit out at the ruling as a "false decision".
The panel of 15 judges, who are from around the world, ruled that Israel has abused its status as the occupying power in the West Bank and east Jerusalem by annexing territory, imposing permanent control and building settlements.
It said Israel must end the building of new settlements immediately, and that building work renders "Israel's presence in the occupied Palestinian territory unlawful".
The judges also said that Israel's continued presence was "illegal" and should be ended as "rapidly as possible".
The court found that "the transfer by Israel of settlers to the West Bank and Jerusalem as well as Israel's maintenance of their presence, is contrary to article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention".
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The judges also expressed their "grave concern" about the fact that Israel's settlement policy has been expanding.
The international court ruled that the way Israel used its natural resources was inconsistent with its legal obligations as an occupying power.
Mr Netanyahu said in response: "The Jewish people are not conquerors in their own land — neither in our eternal capital Jerusalem nor in the land of our ancestors in Judea and Samaria.
"No false decision in the Hague will distort this historical truth, and likewise the legality of Israeli settlement in all the territories of our homeland cannot be disputed."
Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip in the 1967 war. The Palestinians want to have all three areas for an independent state.
Israel considers the West Bank to be disputed territory, whose future should be decided in negotiations, while it has moved population there in settlements to solidify its hold.
It has annexed east Jerusalem in a move that is not internationally recognised, while it withdrew from Gaza in 2005 but maintained a blockade of the territory after Hamas took power in 2007.
The news comes as the British government also announced that it would overturn the suspension of its funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA),
Foreign Secretary David Lammy also said Israel is in "a tough neighbourhood" and civilians in Gaza are "trapped in hell on earth" as he vowed to advance the "cause of peace" in the region.
The Foreign Office paused any future funding for UNRWA in January due to allegations that staff from the aid organisation had been involved in the October 7 Hamas attack which began the latest outbreak of violence in the Middle East.
