The International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a non-binding advisory opinion on Friday, at the request of the UN General Assembly, on the legal consequences of Israel’s practices and policies in the occupied Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. ICJ President Nawaf Salam read out the advisory opinion, in which judges of the UN’s highest court found that Israel’s settlement policy contravenes several international standards, including the Fourth Geneva Convention, and Israel’s practices in those territories constitute in fact the “annexation” of large parts of them.
Salam has also stated that the occupation of the West Bank establishes “systematic discrimination and segregation, and apartheid” due to Israel’s practices of keeping Palestinians separate from Israelis by limiting their movements, expelling and confiscating their land, and demolishing their homes. In addition, the court has also opined that Israel’s exploitation of Palestinian resources and limiting Palestinians’ access to their resources contravenes international law. The ICJ has found that Israel’s policies and practices infringe on the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination.
The United Nations court based in The Hague answers the questions posed by the General Assembly in December 2022 in this way: “What are the legal consequences of Israel’s continued violation of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, of its prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, including measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and of its adoption of related discriminatory legislation and measures?” It also asked: “How do the above-mentioned policies and practices of Israel (…) affect the legal status of the occupation, and what are the legal consequences for all States and the United Nations arising from this status?”
The ICJ judges have called on all UN states not to recognise any changes on the ground, because “Israel’s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territories is illegal”, and have reminded them that they must not provide assistance to Israel in maintaining that presence. They have also had to distinguish between Israel and the occupied territories. They have therefore concluded that Israel must cease its settlement policy and dismantle it, and withdraw from the territories occupied 57 years ago, allow the return of the expelled population, and make reparations to the Palestinians for the damage caused.
In drawing up their opinion, the judges took into account international humanitarian law, the United Nations Charter, the resolutions of the UN Security Council, among other standards. In addition, they heard arguments last February from 52 countries, including Palestine, Spain and the United States (Israel was not among them), and from three international organisations (the Arab League, the African Union and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation).
Of these countries, nearly half claimed that Israel is carrying out the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution against Palestinians as part of its occupation.
Spain denounced a “system of jurisdictional fragmentation in the context of a structure of institutionalised discrimination” and listed violations of international law by Israeli forces, such as the detention of children or settlements.
Israel seized control of the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War and has maintained a military occupation of the Palestinian territory ever since. However, it does not enforce the law of occupation in these territories, nor does it fulfil its legal obligations as an occupying power.
Source: www.eldiario.es
