ICJ to rule on Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory

On Friday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague will present an advisory opinion on the "legal consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem."

The United Nations General Assembly requested the ICJ render an advisory opinion in December 2022 — well before the Hamas-led attack in Israel on October 7, 2023, and Israel's massive military campaign in the Gaza Strip in response. 

According to Israeli officials, the militant Islamist Palestinian group Hamas killed about 1,200 people in the attack and took more than 250 hostages to Gaza. According to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, at least 38,000 people have been killed and 80% of the population displaced in Israel's subsequent war in Gaza, where over 100 hostages are believed to remain.

Questions posed by UN General Assembly

The ICJ is expected to rule on the UN General Assembly's questions regarding the legal consequences of Israel's "continuing violation of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination" and "its prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967."

The ICJ has also been asked to assess how "the policies and practices of Israel […] affect the legal status of the occupation," as well as the consequences for "all States and the United Nations." The resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 2022 that requested an advisory opinion from the ICJ mentions East Jerusalem, the West Bank and also the "living conditions of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip." 

There are a total of 700,000 Israeli settlers in the Wet Bank and East Jerusalem, according to the German dpa news agency. In Resolution 2334 of 2016, the UN Security Council stated that "Israel's establishment of settlements in Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, had no legal validity, constituting a flagrant violation under international law." It also reiterated its demand that "Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities" in occupied territory.

The ICJ has also been requested to examine the situation in East Jerusalem, which Israel occupied in the Six-Day War of 1967. The area includes Jerusalem's Old City, which is home to many holy sites that have significance for Islam, Judaism and Christianity. In 1980, Israel passed the Jerusalem Law declaring the "complete and united" city to be the capital of Israel. The UN Security Council declared the law null and void. Few states recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and many international embassies are located in the city of Tel Aviv. The Palestinian Authority has proclaimed East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital.

Israel did not attend February hearings

The ICJ held hearings in February where the statementsof the Palestinian territories, 49 UN member states and three international organizations were presented. EU states such as France and Spain also presented statements, as did the United States, Russia and China. Many called for an end to unlawful settlement activity in occupied territory.

Israel did not attend the hearings but in an earlier written statement submitted in July 2023, it described the questions placed before the ICJ as "tendentious" and said that they "represent a clear distortion of the history and present reality of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."

In February, the acting legal adviser for the US State Department, Richard Visek, told the ICJ that it should "not find that Israel is legally obligated to immediately and unconditionally withdraw from occupied territory.”

"Any movement towards Israel's withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza requires consideration of Israel's very real security needs," he said. "We were all reminded of those security needs on October 7, and they persist."

Advisory opinion is non-binding but has moral authority

Advisory opinions are non-binding and the ICJ says that the "organ, agency or organization remains free to decide, as it sees fit, what effect" to give them. But it points out that "the Court's advisory opinions nevertheless carry great legal weight and moral authority. to give to these opinions."

In this case, the ICJ's advisory opinion could increase political pressure on Israel with regard to its war against Hamas in Gaza.

Stefan Talmon, a professor of international law at the University of Bonn, told DW in a written statement that the ICJ's opinion could have "far-reaching consequences." If it were to find that Israel's occupation, settlement and de-facto annexation of territories were illegal, states that are committed to international law, such as Germany and other EU states, could not ignore the advisory opinion.

He added that were this to happen, it could have a "considerably explosive impact," and Israel's international position, both legally and politically, could be weakened.

He also explained that the case could have an impact on national courts as well as the European Court of Justice, if it meant that East Jerusalem or other occupied territories could no longer be incorporated in trade agreements between the EU and Israel, for example.

The ICJ is currently also deliberating  a separate case brought forth by South Africa in December 2023, accusing Israel of genocide in light of its military campaign in Gaza. In January, the court delivered an interim judgement, ruling that the case was "plausible" and emphasized that there was risk of "irreparable harm to the Palestinian right to be protected from genocide."

Israel has rejected the accusations. 

This article was translated from German.