On the legality of Israel’s occupation

Contact Counsellor

Last Updated05/01/2023

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) recently passed a resolution that asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) , to render its opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s prolonged occupation of Palestinian land.
The resolution was passed with 87 member countries voting favourably, as opposed to 26 countries, including the U.S. and Israel, voting against it.

Existence of Jewish settlers in historical Palestine: even before the state of Israel was declared in 1948.
First Arab-Israel war: Broke out when 5 Arab nations invaded territory in the former Palestinian mandate immediately following the announcement of the independence of Israel on May 14, 1948
Outcome: led to Israel capturing more territories than what the UN plan had proposed and some 7,00,000 Palestinians were displaced.
Division of historical Palestine: into the State of Israel, West Bank (inc. East Jerusalem) taken over by Jordan & Gaza Strip (controlled by Egypt).
6-day war of 1967: between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, & Syria - resulted in Israel capturing the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, along with Syria’s Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt.
Return of Sinai Peninsula to Egypt: but other captured areas of Palestinian and Syrian territory remain under Israel’s military control.
Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza in 2005: its external borders are still controlled by Israel and Egypt.
Palestinians’ stand: seek West Bank as the heartland of a future independent State due to which incidents of violence & killings of Palestinians by Israeli forces have become common over the years.

The new hard-line regime may bring damaging impacts: for Palestinians as several of the new PM’s key allies are ultranationalist West Bank settlers.
New government’s coalition agreement: states that its top priority will be the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the legalisation of dozens of illegally built outposts.
Promises to annex the West Bank: while choosing the timing and considering the national and international interests of the state of Israel.