United
Nations News
Palestine:
International law obliges Israel to end occupation, says rights panel
Human
Rights | 18 October 2024
_________________________
All
States and international organizations, including the United Nations,
have obligations under international law to bring to an end Israel’s
unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, according to
a new legal position paper released Friday by a top independent human
rights panel.
_________________________
It
details the obligations for Israel, third-party States and the UN to
bring to an end the unlawful occupation, according to the UN
Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.
“Israel’s
internationally wrongful acts give rise to State responsibility, not
only for Israel, but for all States,” said Navi Pillay, chair of
the UN Human Rights Council-mandated commission.
“All
States are obligated not to recognise territorial or sovereignty
claims made by Israel over the occupied territories.”
Read
the commission’s full position paper here.
States
must not provide assistance
Explaining
the commission’s paper, Ms. Pillay said that States must
demonstrate how their dealings differ regarding Israel and the
Occupied Palestinian Territory.
As
an example, she noted that a State must not recognise Jerusalem as
the capital of Israel or place its diplomatic representatives to
Israel in Jerusalem, which Palestinians claim as the capital of their
future State.
In
addition, States must not render aid or assistance in maintaining the
unlawful occupation, which includes financial, military and political
aid or support, the commission chair said.
How
the UN can implement action
The
paper also details how the General Assembly and the Security Council
can identify and implement the precise actions required to bring the
occupation to an end as rapidly as possible.
The
commission found that the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the legal consequences arising from the
policies and practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, is authoritative and unambiguous
in stating that Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory is unlawful.
“The
commission has always stated that the root cause of the protracted
conflict and cycles of violence is the occupation,” Ms. Pillay
said, noting that its 2022 report to the General Assembly had
concluded that the occupation is unlawful under international law.
“The
Commission welcomed the historic advisory opinion from the highest
court in the United Nations system,” she said.
Work
to end occupation
“It
is incumbent on all States to work cooperatively in order bring the
unlawful occupation to an end and to work towards the full
realisation of the right of the Palestinian people to
self-determination,” Ms. Pillay said, calling on all States to
implement the General Assembly resolution passed on 13 September
2024.
On
17 September, the General Assembly adopted a resolution during its 10th emergency special session calling
for an end to Israeli occupation of the Occupied Palestinian
Territory within one year.
Read
our explainer on UN emergency special sessions here.
The
UN Human Rights Council mandated the commission in May 2021 to
“investigate, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, and in Israel, all alleged violations of international
humanitarian law and all alleged violations and abuses of
international human rights law leading up to and since 13 April
2021”.
Find
out more about the commission here.
~END~
The
United States of America is warned that its actions as a
member of the United Nations Security Council are not fulfilling its
obligation to uphold the peremptory norms of international law.
"38.
If there is continued refusal by Israel to comply with its
obligations under international law as set forth in the advisory
opinion and the General Assembly resolution, the Commission
recommends that the Security Council or the General Assembly
establish an ad-hoc Committee to comprehensively review the
non-compliance and propose mechanisms to ensure implementation. The
Commission is aware that, in the Namibia situation, the Security
Council acted to establish such an ad-hoc subcommittee.
However,
in the current situation the Security Council has failed to act due
to the veto power of one of the permanent member States. The
Commission is of the view that, when peremptory norms of
international law are violated, the Permanent Members of the Security
Council should not be allowed to exercise their veto as this is
contrary to the obligation to uphold peremptory norms of
international law."
[Position
Paper of the United Nations Independent International Commission of
Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, and Israel,
18 October 2024, p.9 excerpt]
The
12 page position paper can be found
at
https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/coiopt/2024-10-18-COI-position-paper_co-israel.pdf
