Explained | On the legality of Israel’s occupation Premium

What was the resolution passed by the United Nations General Assembly regarding Israel’s prolonged presence on Palestinian land? How did Israel come to occupy the West Bank? How does the newly elected government of Israel view its relations with the State of Palestine?

A general view of the Jewish settlement of West Bank in Efrat. | Photo Credit: AP

The story so far: The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) ended 2022 by passing a resolution that asked the body’s highest court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), to render its opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s prolonged occupation of Palestinian land. The resolution was passed with 87 member countries voting favourably, as opposed to 26 countries, including the U.S. and Israel, voting against it. India was one of the 53 countries that abstained from the vote.

How has Israel altered its occupation of Palestinian land over the years?

Official Israeli statistics show that Jewish settlers existed in historical Palestine even before the state of Israel was declared in 1948. A UNGA resolution had earlier sought to partition British mandate Palestine. But as the UN partition plan was rejected by the Arabs and the British mandate was coming to an end, Zionists went ahead declaring independence, triggering the first Arab-Israel war. When the war was over, Israel had captured more territories than what the UN plan had proposed and some 7,00,000 Palestinians were displaced. Historical Palestine was divided into the State of Israel (including West Jerusalem), the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) that was taken over by Jordan and the Gaza Strip (controlled by Egypt). Tensions kept rising between Israel and three countries in the region — Egypt, Jordan, and Syria — which led to the six-day war of 1967. The war resulted in Israel capturing the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, along with Syria’s Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. While the Sinai Peninsula was later returned to Egypt, other captured areas of Palestinian and Syrian territory remain under Israel’s military control. Later, Israel also declared the whole of Jerusalem as its “eternal, undivided capital”. While Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, it’s external borders are still controlled by Israel and Egypt.

While the UN Security Council passed a resolution in late 1967 stating that Israel must withdraw from the territories it seized in the war, it is yet to happen and the fate of Palestinian self-determination remains uncertain. Palestinians seek the West Bank as the heartland of a future independent State. However, in the decades since the 1967 war, Israel has constructed dozens of Jewish settlements in West Bank, alongside the three million Palestinians living under Israeli military rule. Most of the international community considers Israel’s West Bank settlements illegal and an obstacle to peace. Incidents of violence and killings of Palestinians by Israeli forces have become common over the years.

What does the resolution seek to do?

The resolution passed by the UNGA on December 30 asked the ICJ to provide its advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s “occupation, settlement and annexation including measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and from its adoption of related discriminatory legislation and measures.” While the U.S. rejected the resolution and major European powers abstained, the vote got unanimous support from the Arab nations. There are two possibilities when a referral is made to the ICJ, it can either lead to a settlement with a party withdrawing its case or it can lead to a trial followed by a verdict. While its rulings are binding, the ICJ has no power to enforce them.

The last time the ICJ dealt with the issue of Israeli occupation was in 2004 when it ruled that the separation or security wall built by Israel in the West Bank was illegal but Israel rejected the verdict, terming it politically motivated. While Israel had started building the wall in 2004 as a means to ensure “security” for Israelis after the second Palestinian Intifada (uprising) of 2000, it went on to use the wall to grab more land. Palestinians describe it as an annexation wall as 85% of it falls inside the West Bank.

A map showing West Bank and Gaza. Source: United Nations Institute for Training and Research

The current UN resolution asking the ICJ to step in is a result of the recent findings of the UN’s Independent Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The Committee’s 2022 report found reasonable grounds to hold that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory was unlawful under international law due to its prolonged nature and the Israeli administration’s policies over the years.

International law states that the occupation of territory in wartime by an occupying power is a temporary situation and does not deprive the occupied power of its statehood or sovereignty. The occupying power is also forbidden from transferring its civilian population in large numbers to the occupied territory, changing its demographic composition, and expropriating the territory’s natural resources.

As per the Committee’s findings, Israel’s successive governments, through their “occupation”, “de-facto annexation” policies, civic planning, and military control, tried to ensure permanent Israeli control in the West Bank by expanding Israeli settlements and sending Israeli civilians to live in these settlements. As per the Oslo Accords of 1993 and 1995, West Bank was divided into Areas A, B, and C. Israel controls Area C, which constitutes 60% of the West Bank. According to the Israeli government, while only 33 building permits were issued to Palestinians by the Israeli Defence Ministry in Area C between 2017 and 2021, construction began for more than 7,000 houses in Israeli settlements between 2017 and 2020.

The report also said that over the years, Israel often confiscated land for military purposes and later used it for settlement construction. Besides, it expanded settlements of three types- officially sanctioned settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem on private Palestinian land, Outposts not authorised by Israeli authorities but supported by politicians and ministries, and enclaves in East Jerusalem established by right-wing groups.

The report also highlighted the exploitation of natural resources. Notably, while most of the Palestinians live in Areas A and B of the West Bank, the fertile pastures, water resources, and agricultural and mineral-rich land is in Area C controlled by Israel, where the entry of Palestinians is highly restricted.

How does the new Israeli government look at the conflict with Palestine?

The UN resolution coincides with the return of Benjamin Netanyahu as Israel’s Prime Minister for a sixth time, with the most far-right coalition in the history of Israel taking charge of the administration. The current six-party right-wing coalition has five ultra-orthodox and far-right Jewish nationalist parties. There are fears that the new hard-line regime will bring damaging impacts for Palestinians as several of Mr. Netanyahu’s key allies, including most of the Religious Zionism party, are ultranationalist West Bank settlers. The new government’s coalition agreement, a policy document enlisting its agendas, states that its top priority will be the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the legalisation of dozens of illegally built outposts. “The Jewish people have an exclusive and unquestionable right to all areas of the Land of Israel,” the document states, also citing the coalition’s commitment to “advance and develop settlements in all parts of the land of Israel,” including “Judea and Samaria,” the biblical names for the West Bank. The agreement also promises to annex the West Bank “while choosing the timing and considering the national and international interests of the state of Israel.” Israel’s new Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir are known for their anti-Palestinian stands. Mr. Smotrich wants to fund settlements and Mr. Ben-Gvir hopes to grant immunity to Israeli soldiers who shoot at Palestinians among other things. 

• The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) ended 2022 by passing a resolution that asked the body’s highest court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), to render its opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s prolonged occupation of Palestinian land.
• The resolution was passed with 87 member countries voting favourably, as opposed to 26 countries, including the U.S. and Israel, voting against it. India was one of the 53 countries that abstained from the vote.
• A UNGA resolution had earlier sought to partition British mandate Palestine. But as the UN partition plan was rejected by the Arabs and the British mandate was coming to an end, Zionists went ahead declaring independence, triggering the first Arab-Israel war.
• The resolution passed by the UNGA on December 30 asked the ICJ to provide its advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s “occupation, settlement and annexation including measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and from its adoption of related discriminatory legislation and measures.”
• The UN resolution coincides with the return of Benjamin Netanyahu as Israel’s Prime Minister for a sixth time, with the most far-right coalition in the history of Israel taking charge of the administration.