UN court orders Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian territories

International court of justice says it should leave ‘as rapidly as possible’ and make full…

the Guardian

International court of justice says it should leave ‘as rapidly as possible’ and make full reparations for ‘wrongful acts.

The UN’s international court of justice (ICJ) has ordered Israel to end its occupation of the Palestinian territories “as rapidly as possible” and make full reparations for its “internationally wrongful acts” in a sweeping and damning advisory opinion that says the occupation violates international law.

In a historic, albeit non-binding, opinion, the court found multiple breaches of international law by Israel including activities that amounted to apartheid.

It will make sobering reading for Israel’s allies, with the court advising that other states are under an obligation not to recognise the occupation as lawful nor to aid or assist it.

Reading the court’s opinion on Friday, the president of the ICJ, Nawaf Salam, said: “The court considers that the violations by Israel of the prohibition of the acquisition of territory by force and of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination have a direct impact on the legality of the continued presence of Israel, as an occupying power, in the occupied Palestinian territory.

“The sustained abuse by Israel of its position as an occupying power, through annexation and an assertion of permanent control over the occupied Palestinian territory and continued frustration of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, violates fundamental principles of international law and renders Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territory unlawful.”

The opinion was provided in response to a request from the UN general assembly in 2022. It precedes the Gaza conflict and is not directly linked to it but will add to the pressure on Israel – and its allies – to bring an end to its military offensive, in which it has killed more than 38,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry.

Israel’s military operation in Gaza, which began after the 7 October attacks in which Hamas-led militants killed almost 1,200 people and took 250 people hostage, is the subject of a separate case at the ICJ brought by South Africa, which accuses it of genocide in its response to the killings on Israeli soil.

Responding to the ICJ’s opinion on Friday, the office of the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, welcomed the court’s decision as “historic” and a “victory for justice” and said Israel must be compelled to implement it. The Palestinian foreign minister, Riyad Al-Maliki, called it a “watershed moment”.

But the office of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said in a statement: “The Jewish people are not occupiers in their own land – not in our eternal capital Jerusalem, nor in our ancestral heritage of Judea and Samaria [the occupied West Bank].

“No decision of lies in The Hague will distort this historical truth, and similarly, the legality of Israeli settlements in all parts of our homeland cannot be disputed.”

The UN secretary general, António Guterres, would promptly transmit the advisory opinion to the 193-member world body and “it is for the general assembly to decide how to proceed in the matter”, UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said…