By: Najla M. Shahwan
Jordan Daily – The International Court of Justice (ICJ), world’s highest court concluded on July 19 – with 12-3 judges in favor – that Israel is forcibly displacing Palestinians from their lands, exploiting water sources, annexing large swaths of the occupied territory “by force” and is violating the right of Palestinians to “self-determination”.
The ICJ issued its advisory opinion on the legal consequences arising from Israel’s polices and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) including East Jerusalem .
The top UN court said that Israel’s presence in the Palestinian occupied territories is “unlawful” and called on it to end and to stop settlement construction immediately, issuing an unprecedented condemnation of Israel’s rule over the lands it captured in the 1967 Mideast war.
The ICJ pointed to a wide list of policies, including the building and expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, use of the area’s natural resources, the annexation and imposition of permanent control over lands and discriminatory policies against Palestinians, all of which it said were in violation of international law.
The ICJ ruled that Israel must stop all building of settlements in the West Bank , remove existing settlements, and compensate Palestinians for human rights violations in the occupied territory.
The 15-judge panel said Israel’s “abuse of its status as the occupying power” renders its “presence in the occupied Palestinian territory unlawful.” It says its continued presence was ”illegal” and should be ended as “rapidly as possible.”
The ICJ called on the UN – especially the Security Council and General Assembly – to take action to bring Israel’s unlawful occupation to a “rapid” end.
On its part, the Israeli government immediately dismissed the ICJ ruling and in response to the ruling, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the West Bank and east Jerusalem were part of the Jewish people’s historical “homeland.”
“The Jewish people are not conquerors in their own land – not in our eternal capital Jerusalem and not in the land of our ancestors in Judea and Samaria,” he said in a post on the social media platform X. “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 contested.”
Previously ICJ’s 2004 advisory opinion that found Israel’s separation wall and settlements on occupied Palestinian land illegal did not change the fact on the ground and settlements have not only remained in the West Bank since the ruling, but increased rapidly and the number of Israeli settlers living there has also risen from 250,000 in 1993 to more than 700,000 in 2023 .
The international community’s failure to implement the recommendations of the 2004 ICJ advisory opinion has emboldened Israel’s defiance of international law and reinforced its impunity.
Advisory opinions from the ICJ are not legally binding and cannot in itself, force a country to act but their legal and moral weight can have significant influence on countries’ decisions and foreign policy.
However, although the court’s opinion, is unlikely to affect Israel’s ongoing illegal policy , declaring Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories unlawful is historic and will have its impact on the international opinion and has the potential to shift the international community’s ability to push for Palestinian statehood.
On the other hand, the ICJ Opinion came at a time when Israel has been flagrantly flouting international humanitarian law on a cataclysmic scale for more than nine months, carrying out deadly and unlawful attacks during its onslaught in the occupied Gaza Strip that have claimed an unprecedented toll on civilians mostly women and children.
Additionally , its escalation of illegal land grabs and the construction of more settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
On her part , responding to the historic advisory (ICJ) opinion Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns, said:
“The International Court of Justice has issued its opinion and the conclusion is loud and clear: Israel’s occupation and annexation of the Palestinian territories are unlawful, and its discriminatory laws and policies against Palestinians violate the prohibition on racial segregation and apartheid.
“This is a historic vindication of the rights of Palestinians who have endured decades of cruelty and systematic human rights violations stemming from Israel’s unlawful occupation.
“The occupation is a key pillar of the system of apartheid that Israel uses to dominate and oppress Palestinians, and which has caused suffering on a mass scale. Palestinians have witnessed their homes being demolished, their lands expropriated to build and expand settlements, and have faced suffocating restrictions disrupting every aspect of their daily lives, from family separation and restrictions on freedom of movement to denial of access to land, water and natural resources.
“The international community, and in particular Israel’s allies, must now take unequivocal action to ensure Israel ends its unlawful occupation, starting with the immediate halting of the expansion of Israeli settlements and reversing the annexation of Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and dismantling its brutal system of apartheid against Palestinians.
Ending the occupation is crucial in order to stop the recurrent pattern of human rights violations across Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
“Israel must withdraw its forces from all parts of the occupied territories, including the Gaza Strip and remove all settlers from the West Bank, including from the illegally annexed East Jerusalem.
Israel must also relinquish control over all aspects of Palestinians’ lives, as well as ceding control of borders, natural resources, air space and territorial waters of the occupied territory.
This means lifting the illegal blockade of Gaza and allowing Palestinians to travel freely between Gaza and the West Bank.”
In recent months, more nations have officially recognized Palestine as a state, with Norway, Spain, and Ireland joining 143 other nations in recognition.
The ICJ ruling, which declares Israel’s occupation an obstacle to Palestinian statehood, is expected to embolden more nations to follow suit and give them legal backing or the legal cover that they need to recognize Palestine .
Najla M. Shahwan is Palestinian author, researcher and freelance journalist.She is also Chairwoman of the Palestinian Center for Children’s Literature ( PCCL ) , founder of Jana Woman Cultural Magazine and recipient of two prizes from the Palestinian Union of Writers.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of the Jordan Daily.
