The UN’s top court has said that Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territories is illegal and must end.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) – The International Court of Justice on Friday said Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territories was “illegal” and called on it to end and halt settlement construction immediately, issuing an unprecedented and comprehensive condemnation of Israel’s rule over territory it occupied 57 years ago.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quick to condemn the non-binding opinion by the 15-judge panel of the International Court of Justice, saying the territory was part of the Jewish people’s historic “homeland.” But the wide-ranging scope of the ruling could sway international opinion and fuel moves to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state.

The judges cited a wide range of policies, including the construction and expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the use of natural resources in the area, the annexation and permanent control of territory and discriminatory policies against Palestinians, all of which they said violate international law.

The court said Israel has no right to sovereignty over the territory, violates international laws against the acquisition of territory by force, and impedes the Palestinians’ right to self-determination. It said other states are obligated not to “provide aid or assistance in maintaining” Israel’s presence in the territory. It said Israel must immediately end settlement construction and existing settlements must be dismantled, according to a summary of the more than 80-page opinion read by court president Nawaf Salam.

The court said that Israel’s “abuse of its status as an occupying power” makes its “presence in the occupied Palestinian territories illegal,” adding that its presence must end “as soon as possible.”

The court’s opinion, requested by the UN General Assembly at the Palestinian request, comes against the backdrop of Israel’s devastating military offensive in Gaza, which began in the wake of Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel on October 7. In a separate case, the ICJ is considering a claim by South Africa that Israel’s campaign in Gaza amounts to genocide. It is a claim that Israel strongly denies..

The court said the General Assembly and the Security Council – where the United States, a staunch Israeli ally, has veto power – should consider “the precise means” of ending Israel’s presence in the territories.

Israel, which considers the United Nations and international courts unfair and biased, did not send a legal team to the hearings. Instead, it submitted written comments, saying the questions posed to the court were biased and did not address Israeli security concerns. Israeli officials said the court’s involvement would undermine the peace process, which has been stagnant for more than a decade.

“The Jewish people are not victorious in their own land – neither in our eternal capital Jerusalem nor in the land of our ancestors in Judea and Samaria,” Netanyahu said in a statement released by his office, using biblical terms for the West Bank. “No wrong decision in The Hague will distort this historical truth, and likewise the legitimacy of Israeli settlements throughout our homeland cannot be challenged.”

Speaking outside the court, Riyad al-Maliki, an adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, described the opinion as “a watershed moment for Palestine, justice and international law.”

He said other countries must now “fulfill the clear obligations” set out by the court. “We will not allow any kind of action … to support Israel’s illegal occupation.”

Hamas welcomed the court’s decision and said in a statement that it required “serious steps on the ground” in response.

Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 war. The Palestinians seek an independent state in these three areas.

Israel considers the West Bank disputed territory whose future must be determined through negotiations, and has moved residents there into settlements to consolidate its control. It has annexed East Jerusalem in a move not recognized internationally, and withdrew from Gaza in 2005 but maintained a blockade after Hamas took power in 2007. The international community generally considers all three areas occupied.

The court’s ruling strikes at the heart of the ambiguity surrounding Israel’s management of the territory. Israel has not annexed the West Bank—despite pressure from settler groups to do so—but it calls it part of its homeland, effectively treating it as an extension of the nation. Along with the settlements, Israel has seized vast swaths of land as “state land.” At the same time, the Netanyahu government has repeatedly rejected the creation of any Palestinian state. Abbas’s Palestinian Authority has been limited to controlling fragmented enclaves scattered across the West Bank.

The Palestinians have presented their arguments in Hearings in FebruaryAt the hearing, Malki accused Israel of apartheid and urged the UN’s top court to declare Israel’s occupation of territory the Palestinians seek to annex illegal and must end immediately and unconditionally for any hope of a two-state future to remain.

A ruling that Israel’s policies violate international law would “isolate Israel even more internationally, at least from a legal point of view,” said Erwin van Veen, a senior researcher at the Clingendael Center for International Peace in The Hague, ahead of the ruling.

Such a ruling, he said, would remove “any kind of legal, political or philosophical basis for the Israeli expansionist project.” He added that it could also increase the number of countries that recognize the Palestinian state, especially in the Western world, such as Spain, Norway and Ireland.

This is not the first time the ICJ has been asked to give its legal opinion on Israeli policies. Two decades ago, the court ruled that Israel was not respecting basic human rights. The apartheid wall in the West Bank These actions were “in violation of international law.” Israel boycotted the measures, saying they were politically motivated.

Israel says the wall is a security measure. Palestinians say the construction constitutes a large-scale land grab because it repeatedly cuts into West Bank territory.

The court said Israel’s construction of settlements in the West Bank violates international laws that prohibit countries from transferring their populations to territory they occupy.

Israel has built more than 100 settlements, according to the settlement watchdog Peace Now. The settler population in the West Bank has grown by more than 15 percent in the past five years to more than 500,000 Israelis, according to a pro-settlement group. The residents of these settlements are Israeli citizens, governed by local law and served by government ministries, services, banks and other businesses—in effect, integrated into Israel.

Israel also annexed East Jerusalem and considers the entire city its capital. An additional 200,000 Israelis live in settlements built in East Jerusalem, which Israel considers neighborhoods of its capital. faces systematic discriminationMaking it difficult for them to build new homes or expand existing ones.

The international community considers all settlements illegal or an obstacle to peace because they are built on land the Palestinians seek for a state.

Netanyahu’s hardline government is dominated by settler groups and their political supporters. Netanyahu has given his finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, a former settler leader, unprecedented authority Smotrich has used the position to consolidate Israel’s control over the West Bank by pushing plans to build more settlement homes and legalize outposts.