The Hague: Israeli Occupation of Territories is Illegal

The occupation of the Palestinian territories and the settlements built there are illegal. This is what the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the highest court of the United Nations based in The Hague, Netherlands, has found.

Specifically, 15 Justices of the Court held that “the presence of the State of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories is illegal, and the State of Israel is obliged to end its presence as soon as possible and immediately cease all new settlement activity and evacuate all settlers.” Added to this is the obligation to compensate all natural or legal persons affected in the territories.

The opinion of the International Court of Justice is not binding but carries considerable political weight. “Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as the associated regime, were established and maintained in violation of international law,” President Nawaf Salam said as he read out the court’s findings.

In response, Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, radical right-wing ministers in the government, explained that they would insist on “annexing a large part of the West Bank.” Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that “the Jewish people cannot be occupiers in their own land.”