The State Department said the way forward would be through direct negotiations
Washington:
The US criticized “the breadth” of the UN top court’s opinion that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal, with Washington saying it would complicate efforts to resolve the conflict.
“We have made clear that Israel’s government support program for settlements is inconsistent with international law and obstructs the cause of peace,” a U.S. State Department spokesperson said Saturday in an email.
“However, we are concerned that the breadth of the court’s opinion will complicate efforts to resolve the conflict,” the State Department added.
The International Court of Justice, or World Court, said on Friday that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements was illegal and should be ended as quickly as possible, delivering the strongest conclusions to date on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. .
The State Department said the ICJ’s view that Israel should withdraw as quickly as possible from the Palestinian territories was “inconsistent with the established framework” for resolving the conflict.
Washington said this framework takes into account Israel’s security needs, which it said were highlighted by the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. These attacks killed 1,200 people, with around 250 people taken hostage, according to Israeli records.
Two-State Solution
The ICJ judges’ advisory opinion is not binding, but it carries weight under international law and could weaken support for Israel.
The State Department said the way forward would be through direct negotiations.
“Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the regime associated with them, were established and are being maintained in violation of international law,” ICJ President Nawaf Salam said on Friday as he read the findings of a panel of 15 judges.
The court said Israel’s obligations include paying restitution for damages and “the evacuation of all settlers from existing settlements.”
Israel rejected the view and said a political settlement could only be reached through negotiations. The office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the opinion, which it considered historic.
The State Department said it “strongly discourages” parties from using the ICJ opinion “as a pretext for further unilateral actions that deepen divisions or to supplant a negotiated two-state solution.”
The ICJ case arises from a request for a 2022 legal opinion from the United Nations General Assembly. It predates Israel’s war in Gaza, which began after the October 7 attacks and killed nearly 39,000 people, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza, which has been under Hamas rule while causing a health crisis. famine, displacing nearly all of Gaza’s 2.3 million inhabitants and spurring allegations of genocide that Israel denies.
The ICJ opinion states that the UN Security Council, the General Assembly and all states have an obligation not to recognize the occupation as legal nor to “render aid or assistance” to maintain Israel’s presence in the Palestinian territories.
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem – which Palestinians want as a state – in the Six-Day War in 1967 and has since built and expanded settlements in the West Bank.
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