Global Court Set to Weigh In on Israel’s Occupation of Palestinian Territories

The International Court of Justice is set to issue an opinion on Friday on the legality of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories, the first time the world’s highest court has laid out its stance on an issue that for decades has been the subject of debates and resolutions at the United Nations.

The court’s advisory opinions, while not binding, carry authority and legal weight. Friday’s session is receiving heightened attention because of the war in Gaza, which is now in its ninth month, and because of a separate genocide case brought by South Africa against Israel in December over its conduct in the war.

In January, the court ordered Israel to restrain its attacks in Gaza, and in May it ordered the country to “immediately” halt its military offensive in the city of Rafah, in southern Gaza.

The U.N. General Assembly in 2022 asked the court for its opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s “prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation” of the territories, including the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 1967. The court held hearings in February at the Peace Palace in The Hague.

Israel did not appear at that session but filed a submission rejecting the validity of the proceedings as biased. The Palestinian Authority’s foreign minister, Riyad al-Maliki, told the court that Israel had subjected Palestinians to decades of discrimination, leaving them with the choice of “displacement, subjugation or death.”

Over the course of several days, representatives of more than 50 countries, an unusually high number for the court, addressed the hearings. Most sided with the Palestinian representatives. But a few speakers at the court, including those from the United States, Britain and Hungary — among Israel’s traditional allies — sided with Israel.

A U.S. State Department official argued before the court that Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians were determined by its “very real security needs.”

One focal point of Friday’s opinion will likely be Israel’s settlement policy in the West Bank and East Jerusalem — both the officially promoted expansion of settlements for Israeli citizens on Palestinian territory as well as the government’s tolerance of violent land grabs by settlers.

Every Israeli government has allowed some Israeli construction in the territories, but the Netanyahu government has expanded the program and announced plans for thousands of new housing units. More than 400,000 Israelis have settled in the West Bank since 1967.