Israeli Barrier at West Bank Illegal, rules ICJ
Pakistan Times Foreign Desk Report

THE HAGUE (Netherlands): The International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion Friday that Israel's building of a wall in the occupied Palestinian territory is illegal and said construction must stop immediately and Israel should make reparations for any damage caused.

Responding to a request from the United Nations General Assembly, the World Court's opinion said the Assembly and the Security Council should consider what steps to take "to bring to an end the illegal situation" created by the wall.

By a majority of 14 to 1, the judges found that the wall's construction breaches international law, saying it violated principles outlined in the UN Charter and long-standing global conventions that prohibit the threat or use of force and the acquisition of territory that way, as well as principles upholding the right of peoples to self-determination.

Observing that 80 per cent of Israeli settlers in the occupied Palestinian territory now live between the wall and the so-called Green Line marking the 1949 boundary of Israel, the Court said the wall's route could "prejudge the future frontier between Israel and Palestine."

The ICJ – the UN’s principal judicial organ – said construction "would be tantamount to de facto annexation" as it explained that the wall could create a potentially permanent "fait accompli" on the ground.

The judges noted that, combined with the Israeli settlements, which have been deplored by the Security Council, the wall's construction alters the demographic composition of the occupied Palestinian territory and impedes the Palestinians' right to self-determination.

Concluding that Israel could not rely on a right of self-defence or on a state of necessity to justify the wall, the Court said it was not convinced the specific route chosen was necessary for security reasons.

The judges also said Israel is obliged to stop construction immediately and dismantle the sections of the wall that have already been built. They added that Israel must nullify any laws relating to the wall's construction and make reparations for any damage caused by its erection.

Voting 13-2, the judges found that all States should not "recognize the illegal situation resulting from the construction of the wall" and not give any aid or assistance in maintaining the situation.

The judges' advisory opinion, released at the ICJ's headquarters in The Hague, is non-binding. It follows three days of court hearings in February.

Last December the General Assembly, during an emergency special session on the occupied Palestinian territories, adopted a resolution asking the ICJ to urgently render an opinion on the legal consequences of the construction of a wall.●