What is the legal status of the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) ruling on Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory? And what does it mean for Australia?
To recap: the ICJ’s panel of 15 judges delivered its opinion last Friday, with the following declarations:
- Israel’s continued presence in the occupied territories (East Jerusalem and the West Bank, which it has occupied since capturing them during the 1967 Six-Day War) is unlawful;
- It is obliged to end its occupation “as rapidly as possible”;
- It must cease all new settlement activities, and evacuate all settlers from the occupied areas, and make reparations to Palestinian people harmed by the occupation;
- It has obligations to the people of Gaza commensurate with its degree of control over that area;
- Its policies and practices — settlement activity and the effective impunity afforded settlers for their illegal acts, land confiscations and annexations, excessive use of force, discriminatory laws and practical discrimination against Palestinian people (what many have described as a state of apartheid) violate international law;
- The cumulative effect of Israel’s actions has denied the Palestinian people their right to self-determination.
Crikey encourages robust conversations on our website. However, we’re a small team, so sometimes we have to reluctantly turn comments off due to legal risk. You can read our moderation guidelines here. If you’d like to share your thoughts on this story, you can email letters@crikey.com.au. Please include your full name to be considered for publication in our Your Say section.