The International Court of Justice was issuing a non-binding opinion on the legality of Israel's 57-year occupation of lands sought for a Palestinian state.
The top U.N. court ruled Friday that Israel 's presence in the Palestinian -occupied territories is "unlawful" and called on it to end, pointing to the building and expansion of Israel i settlements in the West Bank , and east Jerusalem, its annexation and imposition of permanent control over lands and discriminatory policies against Palestinian s.
Israel, which normally considers the United Nations and international tribunals as unfair and biased, did not send a legal team to the hearings. But it submitted written comments, saying that the questions put to the court are prejudiced and fail to address Israeli security concerns. Israeli officials have said the court's intervention could undermine the peace process, which has stagnant for more than a decade.
At hearings in February, then-Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki accused Israel of apartheid and urged the United Nations' top court to declare that Israel's occupation of lands sought by the Palestinians is illegal and must end immediately and unconditionally for any hope for a two-state future to survive.
He said such a ruling would "worsen the case for occupation. It removes any kind of legal, political, philosophical underpinning of the Israeli expansion project." Israel says the barrier is a security measure. Palestinians say the structure amounts to a massive land grab because it frequently dips into the West Bank.
Palestinian Settlements Court West Bank East Jerusalem Unlawful International Court Of Justice
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