Rights groups hail 'historic' ICJ ruling on Israel's occupation of Palestine

Human rights groups have hailed a "historic" Friday ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that Israel's occupation of Palestine is illegal.

The ICJ, the United Nations' top court, found that Israeli policies and practices amounted to "annexation of large parts of the occupied Palestinian territory".

Palestinian rights groups

Premier Palestinian rights group Al-Haq hailed the court's non-binding ruling as a "historic landmark advisory opinion".

"Al-Haq welcomes the findings that settlers [should] be removed from the settlements, #Palestinians returned to their properties and for full restitution of land and properties," the rights group said on social media platform X.

"The opinion endorses the decades-long calls by Palestinians, the UN, & legal experts."

Al-Haq said it was a "first step" towards "rectifying the generational harm" of Israel's "illegal occupation, ongoing #Nakba, settler-colonialism and apartheid".

The Nakba (Arabic for "catastrophe") refers to the ethnic cleansing of around 750,000 Palestinians to make way for the 1948 creation of the Israeli state.

Many view the Nakba as a process that did not stop and which continues today.

Al Mezan, another Palestinian rights group, said it "strongly welcomes" the ICJ's ruling that Israel's presence in the occupied territory is unlawful and must end as quickly as possible.

"The ruling sets clear legal obligations for third states & international organisations, and we demand full compliance," it added on X.

Israel has occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip since capturing these territories in a 1967 Middle East war.

The ICJ delivered its advisory opinion following a request from the UN General Assembly.

The court found that all states are obliged not to "recognise as legal the situation arising" from Israel's unlawful presence in Palestine and not to "render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation".

International rights groups

Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty International's senior director for research, advocacy, policy, and campaigns, said the ICJ had "issued its opinion and the conclusion is loud and clear".

"Israel's occupation and annexation of the Palestinian territories are unlawful, and its discriminatory laws and policies against Palestinians violate the prohibition on racial segregation and apartheid," she added.

"This is a historic vindication of the rights of Palestinians who have endured decades of cruelty and systematic human rights violations stemming from Israel's unlawful occupation."

The ICJ found that Israel was in violation of Article 3 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

Article 3 says that states party to the convention "particularly condemn racial segregation and apartheid and undertake to prevent, prohibit and eradicate all practices of this nature in territories under their jurisdiction".

Human Rights Watch (HRW) is among the rights groups to have accused Israel of engaging in apartheid against Palestinians.

"In a historic ruling the International Court of Justice has found multiple and serious international law violations by Israel towards Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territory, including, for the first time, finding Israel responsible for apartheid," HRW executive director Tirana Hassan said.

"The court has placed responsibility with all states and the United Nations to end these violations of international law."

Hassan said the advisory opinion should be "yet another wake-up call" for the US to halt its "egregious policy" of "defending Israel's oppression of Palestinians and prompt a thorough reassessment in other countries as well".

Israeli rights groups

Israeli rights group B'Tselem called for the international community to act.

"No more excuses," the group said. "The international community must force Israel to end the occupation."

B'Tselem said military occupation was one aspect of Israel's "apartheid regime".

Breaking the Silence (BtS) said the occupation "must end" but this wasn't "because of the ICJ".

It was "because decades of tyranny are a moral disgrace which corrupts and distorts us all", the group of former Israeli soldiers said on X.

"Because ultimately, the occupation takes the lives of so many innocent souls," BtS added.

"And that is why we will continue to break the silence, until it ends."

The court's advisory opinion comes as Israel continues to wage its more than nine-month-long war on Gaza, which has killed at least 38,919 people in the Palestinian enclave, according to its health ministry.

In an ongoing ICJ case separate from Friday's advisory opinion, South Africa has accused Israel of genocide in Gaza.