Legality of the Israeli occupation of Palestine

Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories, which has continued since 1967 and is the longest military occupation in modern history,[1] has become illegal under international law. This illegality encompasses the West Bank, including Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem, as well as the blockaded Gaza Strip, which remains to be considered occupied under international law despite the 2005 Israeli disengagement. Israel's policies and practices in the occupied West Bank, including the construction and expansion of Israeli settlements, have amounted to de facto annexation that is illegal under international law.

It is a subject that has received much less attention than violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law (IHRL) that have occurred during the occupation.[2][3][4] Multiple United Nations General Assembly resolutions have described the continuing occupation as illegal. The general thrust of international law scholarship addressing this question has concluded that, regardless of whether it was initially legal, the occupation has become illegal over time.[5] Reasons cited for its illegality include use of force for impermissible purposes such as annexation, violation of the Palestinian right to self-determination, that the occupation itself is an illegal regime "of alien subjugation, domination and exploitation", or some combination of these factors.[6] Eyal Benvenisti suggested that refusal by an occupier to engage in good faith with efforts to reach a peaceful solution should not only be considered illegal but as outright annexation.[7] International law scholar Ralph Wilde[8] states that "The common way of understanding the extended duration of the occupation... is a prolonged violation of international law".[9] Israel denies occupying Palestine and maintains its presence is legal.

On 20 October 2022, the Permanent United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Israel Palestine conflict released a report[10] to the United Nations General Assembly, calling on the Security Council to end Israel’s "permanent occupation" and on individual UN member states to prosecute Israeli officials. The report found "reasonable grounds" to conclude that the occupation "is now unlawful under international law due to its permanence" and Israel's "de-facto annexation policies".[11][12] Israeli prime minister Yair Lapid said the report is "biased, false, inciting and blatantly unbalanced" and called it "anti-Semitic".[13] The International Court of Justice (ICJ) accepted a request from the United Nations (UN) regarding the Legal consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory including East Jerusalem.[14] On 19 July 2024, the court released its ruling, finding that the Israel's continued presence in Palestine was illegal, citing Israeli policies that violate the Geneva Convention and amount to annexation.[15]

  1. ^ Azarova 2019, p. 115.
  2. ^ Imseis 2020, p. 1085.
  3. ^ Sayed 2014, p. 80.
  4. ^ Ben-Naftali, Gross & Michaeli 2005, pp. 551–552.
  5. ^ Imseis 2020, pp. 1072–1073.
  6. ^ Imseis 2020, pp. 1073, 1085.
  7. ^ Benvenisti 2012, p. 233.
  8. ^ "Ralph Wilde". UCL Faculty of Laws. September 11, 2017. Archived from the original on March 16, 2022. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  9. ^ Wilde 2021, p. 43.
  10. ^ Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel (PDF) (Report). UN. 14 September 2022.
  11. ^ "Commission of Inquiry finds that the Israeli occupation is unlawful under international law". OHCHR.
  12. ^ "UN report denounces Israel's 'unlawful occupation,' demands prosecution of officials". www.timesofisrael.com.
  13. ^ "Lapid: UN's CIO report is antisemitic and written by antisemites". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com.
  14. ^ "INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE". www.icj-cij.org.
  15. ^ ICJ opinion declaring Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories unlawful is historic vindication of Palestinians' rights, Amnesty International, 19 July 2024, Wikidata Q127606223, archived from the original on 19 July 2024