The United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel welcomed the decision issued by the International Court of Justice, the highest international judicial body, regarding the legal consequences of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territory since 1967.

The head of the committee, Navi Pillay, said that the court’s advisory opinion is clear and unambiguous, and includes the international legal obligations not only of Israel, but of the United Nations and all countries.

She added that maintaining and strengthening the international rules-based order will depend on compliance with this advisory opinion.

It is noteworthy that the Committee concluded in its report to the General Assembly in September 2022 that the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territory is illegal under international law, due to its permanence and to the measures taken by Israel to annex parts of the occupied Palestinian Territory de facto and de jure. The committee stated that the permanent occupation and annexation by Israel cannot remain unaddressed.

The Committee then recommended that the General Assembly request an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on the legal consequences of the prolonged occupation of the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem.

The International Court of Justice issued a decision last Friday stating that the presence of the Israeli occupation is illegal in the Palestinian territories.

In the advisory opinion it issued, the court stressed that Israel must stop the occupation and end its illegal presence in the occupied Palestinian territories as soon as possible.