World Court says Israel’s occupation violates international law

By a vote of 11 to 4, it was held that Israel’s continued presence in the occupied territories is illegal. By a vote of 14 to 1, the State of Israel was obliged to immediately cease all new settlement activities and evacuate all settlers from the occupied Palestinian territories. The Court concluded that Israel’s policies and practices, including the maintenance and expansion of settlements, the construction of related infrastructure and the separation wall, the exploitation of natural resources, the declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and the full application of Israeli domestic law in East Jerusalem and to its wider extent in the West Bank The application consolidates Israel’s control over the occupied Palestinian territories, especially East Jerusalem and Area C of the West Bank. These policies and practices are designed to remain in place indefinitely and have irreversible effects on the ground. The Court therefore found that these policies and practices amounted to the annexation of much of the occupied Palestinian territory.