The historic statement has no legally binding aspects, but Israeli officials have issued scathing indictments on the court and its decision-making process.
The United Nation’s top court has ruled Israel’s settlements in the Palestinian territories are illegal, and they must be removed immediately.
« The State of Israel is under the obligation to bring an end to its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as rapidly as possible », ICJ President Nawaf Salam said when he delivered the court’s findings on Friday, stressing that the « continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is illegal. »
The opinion is merely advisory and is not legally binding. The court specifically aimed to provide its view on Israel’s policies and practices as well as the legal status of the settlements, the BBC reported.
The court in May demanded Israel « immediately halt its military offensive » against Hamas in Rafah, the Palestinian terrorist group’s final stronghold in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strongly rejected the court’s conclusion, arguing in a statement posted on X that « Jewish people are not occupiers in their own land, including in our eternal capital Jerusalem nor in Judea and Samaria, our historic homeland.
« No absurd opinion in The Hague can deny this historical truth or the legal right of Israelis to live in their own communities in our ancestral home. »
The Israeli Foreign Ministry issued a longer, more detailed statement through its spokesperson Oren Marmorstein, who posted on social media platform X that « Israel rejects the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that was published today regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
