Palestinians hail ICJ ruling on territories

The Palestinian leadership hailed a "historic" ruling by the top UN court on Friday that Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories is illegal, but the decision drew condemnation from Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the International Court of Justice had made a "decision of lies" after it found that Israel's policies and practices "amount to annexation of large parts" of the occupied territories.

The office of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said it welcomed the "historic decision and demands that Israel be compelled to implement it."

In its non-binding advisory opinion, The Hague-based court found that Israel was "under an obligation to cease immediately all new settlement activities and to evacuate all settlers" from occupied land.

The ruling has drawn added attention because it comes against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Netanyahu led a chorus of condemnation from conservative, far-right and even centrist politicians in Israel.

"The Jewish people are not occupiers in their own land -– not in our eternal capital Jerusalem, nor in our ancestral heritage of Judea and Samaria" (the occupied West Bank), Netanyahu said in a statement.

"No decision of lies in The Hague will distort this historical truth, and similarly, the legality of Israeli settlements in all parts of our homeland cannot be disputed."

In the English-language version of his statement, Netanyahu called the decision "absurd".

Itamar Ben Gvir, the far-right national security minister and a settler himself, called the ICJ "a blatantly anti-Semitic and political organisation".

In comments sent to AFP by a spokesperson, Ben Gvir called for annexation of the occupied territories.

Centrist opposition leader Yair Lapid said the court's ruling was "disconnected, one-sided, tainted with anti-Semitism and lacking an understanding of the reality on the ground".

The Palestinian presidency said: "The ICJ ruling renews hope among our people for a future free from colonisation."

The foreign ministry called the ruling a "watershed moment".

"Israel is under an obligation to end this illegal colonial enterprise unconditionally, and in our view, that means immediately and totally," it said.

The ICJ ruling comes in response to a UN General Assembly query in 2022 regarding the legal consequences of Israel's "prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967".

In the Six-Day War of 1967, Israel occupied the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including east Jerusalem which it swiftly annexed.

The UN later declared the occupation of Palestinian territory illegal.

Israeli human rights group B'Tselem said the court's decision left "no more excuses" for the international community, which must now "use every tool -- criminal, diplomatic and economic" to push Israel.

"The international community has evaded its duty to protect the Palestinians using various excuses, including the supposed temporary nature of the occupation and the claim that a diplomatic solution designed to resolve the conflict is being negotiated," a spokesperson for the group said.

"The release of the ICJ’s advisory opinion puts an end to these justifications."