The International Court of Justice ruled on Friday that Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territories is “unlawful” and called for it to end swiftly.
The court’s panel of 15 judges issued its nonbinding opinion, which is more likely to affect international sentiment toward Israel than change its behavior in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Israel’s “unlawful policies and practices are in breach of the Israeli government’s obligation to respect the right of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination,” the court said, adding that it should be ended as “rapidly as possible.”
The International Court of Justice said Israel should cease all new settlement activities, evacuate settlers from Palestinian territories, and provide reparations to Palestinians.
The International Court of Justice, which is based at The Hague in the Netherlands, had been looking into Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories following a request from the United Nations General Assembly that predates Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist attack in Israel and Israel’s subsequent response in Gaza.
Israeli officials have long claimed international bodies discriminate against them, and they did so again in response to the International Court of Justice’s ruling Friday, which is different than South Africa’s case in front of the court accusing Israel of carrying out a genocide in Gaza — a claim both Israel and the U.S. denies.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the court’s decision as “false,” adding, “The Jewish people are not conquerors in their own land,” referring to Jerusalem and the West Bank. “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.”
Alternatively, the Palestinian Authority’s foreign ministry called the opinion “a watershed moment,” adding that the “international community is under an obligation not just to reaffirm the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination but to see to it that this right is implemented immediately.”
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Earlier this week, Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution that rejected the establishment of a Palestinian state, a dramatic vote considering the long-term overwhelming support for a two-state solution.
The Biden administration has argued repeatedly that regional stability can be achieved through the two-state solution, which it argues has to come through direct negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis as opposed to unilateral recognition.