Friday, October 18, 2024
A landmark decision in the ongoing conflict
The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, came to the conclusion that Israel should stop settlement activity in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Additionally, stating Israel should end the “illegal occupation” of the Gaza Strip. This announcement comes as the civilian death toll continues to climb in the conflict between the leadership of Israel and Hamas.
Read the full, and very lengthy, document here.
The announcement was met with harsh criticism by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"The Jewish people are not occupiers in their own land - not in our eternal capital Jerusalem, nor in our ancestral heritage of Judea and Samaria" - Netanyahu
The non-binding opinion was issued by a 15-judge panel of the ICJ, and was the result of a Palestinian request, during a previous United Nations General Assembly.
United Nations deputy spokesperson, Farhan Haq, said the opinion will be given to the 193-member world body and “it is for the General Assembly to decide how to proceed in the matter."