ICJ says Israel’s presence in Palestinian territory is unlawful

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ruled that Israel’s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory is unlawful and should come to an end “as rapidly as possible”.

Nawaf Salam, president of the ICJ in The Hague, read out the nonbinding advisory opinion issued by the 15-judge panel on Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory on Friday.The ICJ, also known as the World Court, is the highest UN body for hearing disputes between states.Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem – areas of historic Palestine that the Palestinians want for a state – in a 1967 war. It has since built settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and steadily expanded them. It also had settlements in Gaza before a 2005 withdrawal.Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem – areas of historic Palestine that the Palestinians want for a state – in a 1967 war. It has since built settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and steadily expanded them. It also had settlements in Gaza before a 2005 withdrawal.

Mansour said his team would study the entire opinion and “dissect every sentence”.

“We will consult with an army of friends at the United Nations and in all corners of the globe,” he said, adding, “We will produce a masterpiece of a resolution” at the UN General Assembly.

Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected the opinion as “fundamentally wrong” and one-sided.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office issued a statement in which it called the ruling a “decision of lies” that distorted the truth and asserted that “the Jewish people are not occupiers in their own land”.

Jeffrey Nice, a human rights barrister, told Al Jazeera that it will be hard for world leaders to completely “disregard” the ICJ ruling even though it is nonbinding.

“This is one part of the legal system saying enough is enough,” he said.

He said it would also be “difficult for the interested, informed, concerned public not to say, ‘It’s time Israel put its house in order.’”

Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst, Marwan Bishara, said: “There is a lot of room for hope that this ruling will support a movement, an international movement, across the board in the West and elsewhere in the world in favour of more sanctions, more pressure on Western governments to put more pressure on Israel.”

In a separate case brought by South Africa, the ICJ is considering allegations that Israel is committing genocide in its war on Gaza.

A preliminary ruling has already been made in that case with the court ordering Israel to prevent and punish incitement to genocide and to increase provisions of humanitarian aid.In May, the ICJ had also ordered Israel to halt its offensive on Rafah, a city in southern Gaza, citing “immense risk” to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians taking shelter there. But Israel has continued its attacks on Gaza, including Rafah, in defiance of the UN court.