In an opinion issued on Friday, July 19, the International Court of Justice said Israel's presence in the Palestinian occupied territories is "unlawful" and called on it to end. The UN's top court said that Israel has abused its status as the occupying power in the West Bank and East Jerusalem by carrying out policies of annexing territory, imposing permanent control and building settlements. It said such acts render "Israel's presence in the occupied Palestinian territory unlawful." It says its continued presence was "illegal" and should be ended as "rapidly as possible."
The Israel-imposed regime in the West Bank and Gaza Strip dates back more than half a century. Several reports by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights have deemed the occupation illegal "due to its permanence and the Israeli government's de facto annexation policies." No judge, however, had so far confirmed this. Although the ICJ's legal opinions are not binding, they do carry considerable political weight, as legal experts like to point out.