Hugh Lovatt
European Council on Foreign Relations / July 23, 2024
The International Court of Justice has ruled that Israel’s continued occupation of Palestinian territory is unlawful. Now Europe must support further differentiation measures, and recognise Palestine’s right to self-determination.
Last Friday’s landmark ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) amounts to a wholesale rejection of Israel’s decades-long policies in Gaza and the West Bank. The court found that Israel’s continued presence in the entirety of the Palestinian territory is unlawful, and should be brought to an end as rapidly as possible. In addition, it found that the separate legal regimes applying to Israelis and Palestinians in the Palestinian territory constitute a violation of international laws prohibiting racial discrimination and apartheid under Article 3 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Now, rather than pursuing the chimera of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, Europe should focus its immediate efforts on directly challenging Israel’s unlawful practices, and incentivizing a future Israeli move towards de-occupation.
A new, clear path
In its ruling the ICJ has stated that Israel is obliged to end its occupation, and allow the Palestinian people to exercise their right to self-determination – including the dismantling of Israel’s settlement regime, and making reparations to Palestinians. In considering how to bring to an end Israel’s unlawful presence in the Palestinian territory, members of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) and Security Council should be guided by principles set out by the ICJ judges – most notably the international duty to ensure that member state actions do not recognize or support illegal Israeli actions. This includes the need to prevent trade or investment relations with Jewish settlements, as highlighted by the court.
The European Union and European states cannot continue business as usual with Israel, and must instead challenge the country’s unlawful practices. At the heart of this is Israel’s settlement project, and regime of institutional discrimination against Palestinians. Europeans should now work with UNGA members, particularly Arab states, to operationalize the court’s ruling which echoes long-standing European positions, such as the EU’s policy of differentiating between Israel and the settlements. Enshrined in UN Resolution 2334 in December 2016, the differentiation policy has now been commended by the ICJ.
Excluding settlements, recognizing Palestine
While Europeans have already taken some significant steps to differentiate between Israel and its settlements, more are needed. The EU and European states should review all interactions with Israel to ensure the full and effective exclusion of settlement-affiliated entities – and propose UNGA adopts similar measures. This review should include a long-overdue ban on settlements products and services – as called for by the ICJ – and closer scrutiny of arms sales and technology to ensure these are not contributing to Israel’s unlawful actions. The EU must also urgently assess whether Israel is complying with its human rights obligations under their Association Agreement, while expanding sanctions against settlement organizations. In addition, and perhaps most importantly, European countries must take to heart the court’s assertion that the Palestinian right to self-determination is not conditional upon Israeli approval, nor upon the outcome of negotiations. A practical step in this regard, already taken by several EU members including most recently Ireland, Norway, and Spain, is to recognize the State of Palestinian in Gaza and the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), based on the 1967 borders. Other European countries must now follow suit.
Hugh Lovatt – Senior Policy Fellow
