In its latest ruling, the International Court of Justice called on Israel to end its presence on illegally occupied Palestinian territory “as rapidly as possible.”  

Qatar has welcomed the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) advisory opinion on Friday that declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories is unlawful.

“Qatar welcomes the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, stressing that Israel is under an obligation to end its illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and East Jerusalem,” the Gulf state’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

The Qatari foreign ministry noted that the ICJ’s opinion involves the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza. 

The ICJ ruling came after a 2022 request by the United Nations General Assembly that sought its opinion on the legality of Israel’s occupation of Palestine.

Qatar was among the majority of 98 countries that voted in favour of the UNGA resolution, whereas 24 other countries, including Israel’s main ally, the United States, voted against the resolution. A total of 53 other members abstained.

“The Court affirms that Israel is under an obligation to end its illegal presence on Palestinian land as soon as possible, as well as to cease all new settlements, evacuate all settlers from the Occupied Palestinian Territory and compensate all those affected by such illegal practices,” the Qatari foreign ministry’s statement added.

In its latest ruling, the ICJ, also known as the World Court, called on Israel to end its presence on illegally occupied Palestinian territory “as rapidly as possible.”  

“Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the regime associated with them, have been established and are being maintained in violation of international law,” Nawaf Salam, president of the ICJ, said while reading the advisory opinion.

In February, Qatar joined countries in presenting their arguments in The Hague over the ICJ advisory opinion. The Gulf state was represented by its ambassador to the Netherlands, Mutlaq Al-Qahtani.

Addressing the Court at the time, the Qatari envoy condemned and questioned the constant application of double standards towards the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

The Qatari official highlighted Israel’s “apartheid regime” that is aimed at maintaining “the domination of Jewish Israelis over Palestinians.” He also outlined “Israel’s long-standing settler colonial project in Palestine.”

“To maintain that regime, it has killed, maimed and imprisoned tens of thousands of men, women and children. These are the root causes of the situation we face today,” Al-Qahtani said, referring to the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, adding that “the occupation must be brought to an end.”

Israel occupied the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem in a bloody war in 1967, widely known as “the Six-day War” and Naksa, or “setback”. Within six days, Israel captured the majority of Palestine while forcibly displacing at least 300,000 Palestinians.

While the advisory opinion is non-binding, it has dealt a great blow to Israel’s global reputation given its ongoing occupation of Palestine and violations of Palestinians’ rights.

Commenting on the ICJ’s ruling, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu echoed Israel’s claims over Palestinian land being its so-called “historical homeland.”

“The Jewish people are not occupiers in their own land, including in our eternal capital Jerusalem nor in Judea and Samaria, our historical homeland,” Netanyahu said.

“No absurd opinion in The Hague can deny this historical truth or the legal right of Israelis to live in their own communities in our ancestral home,” he added.

Decades of impunity

The current ICJ case is separate from the one South Africa had raised last year on whether Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza. 

The Court had previously issued provisional measures on January 26, during which it ordered Israel to prevent incitement to commit genocide to allow more humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

However, Israel maintained its chokehold over the entry of aid and destroyed the vital Rafah Crossing following its long-awaited and widely-criticized invasion on May 6. 

The war in the Gaza Strip has also neared its tenth-month, with Israel killing nearly 39,000 Palestinians, mainly women and children, while displacing 1.9 million people out of the 2.1 million population.

Israel has long shrugged off the ICJ’s rulings and international law.

This was seen in 2004, when the ICJ gave the UN an advisory opinion on “the legal consequences” of Israel’s illegal construction of the West Bank separation wall, under which the occupying entity annexed the Palestinian territory.

The ICJ said it was “contrary to international law.” Despite the ruling, Israel continued to act with impunity while constructing more checkpoints, illegal barriers, and expanding its settlements and separating Palestinian families.

In January, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich proposed legalising five settlements in the occupied West Bank, while simultaneously imposing sanctions on the Palestinian Authority. 

Smotrich had said that the decision came as a response to each country that has recently recognised the Palestinian state amid growing outrage over Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip, widely referred to as a genocide. 

Since the beginning of the war on October 7, the countries that recognised Palestine’s statehood include Spain, Ireland, Norway, the Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Barbados.

“For every country that unilaterally recognises a Palestinian state, we will establish a settlement. Five countries made this mistake, so we will establish five settlements,” Smotrich said in a video, threatening to bring in “a million settlers.”

Israeli settlements are illegal under international law, and are widely viewed as obstructing the path to Palestine’s statehood.

According to the United Nations, at least 700,000 Israeli settlers are living in the illegally occupied West Bank, with settlements significantly increasing over the past decade.