The International Court of Justice has ruled that Israeli settlements in Palestine are illegal

The ruling against Israel is not binding but will have a profound impact on public opinion.Settlements will hit a new record in 2024.

• For the UN Court, Israel's settlement policies in Palestine are contrary to the Geneva Convention.
• The 15 judges said Israel must stop its colonialism in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
• A few weeks ago, Israel approved its largest settlement plan in three decades.

There International Court of Justice, the most important UN tribunal, has ruled that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories violate the international law.The opinion, that it is not binding, comes after a request from the 2022 UN General Assembly.

Israel violates international law

According to the International Court of Justice, the highest UN jurisdiction, Israel's settlement policies and exploitation of natural resources in the Palestinian territories violate the international law. 

The ruling underlines that what is violated is thearticle 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and calls on Israel to end its settlement policies in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.“Israel's presence in the occupied Palestinian territories is illegal,” underline the 15 judges of the Court.Israel did not send its legal team to the hearings and simply sent written documents, also to delegitimize the most important international tribunal.

New illegal settlements

In its ruling, the International Court of Justice noted with “serious concern” than the Israeli settlement policy in the occupied Palestinian territories is being expanded. 

Just in recent weeks the Israeli government had approved an expropriation of land from the Palestinians which will concern an area of 12.7 square kilometers of the West Bank.This is the largest single expropriation of the last three decades and adds to two other land expropriations from Palestinians in 2024, the year in which Israel will mark the record amount of land stolen from the Palestinians.

The ruling of the Court, which she's also busy In the genocide trial always against Israel, it has no binding nature but it will have a strong impact on public opinion.