Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahurejected the ruling issued Friday by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank was illegal: “The Jewish people are not conquerors in their own land.” The president responded in a statement released by his office.

“No false decision in The Hague will distort this situation. historical truthJust as the legality of Israeli settlements in all areas of our land cannot be questioned,” the Israeli leader concluded.

Thus, Netanyahu Denies Illegality of Israeli Occupation of East Jerusalem (recognized as Palestinian territory according to the 1967 borders, which Israel finally annexed in 1980) and the West Bank, which the political leader called “Judea and Samaria”referring to the biblical terms commonly used by the colonists.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz issued a statement characterizing the ICJ’s opinion as “fundamentally deformed, one-sided and wrong”.

Katz, like Netanyahu, appealed to “the historical rights of the Jewish people in the land of Israel”and accused the Court of being out of touch with the present by failing to take into account the security threats facing Israel (referring to Hamas, Iran and “other terrorist elements”) or the Holocaust.

“The State of Israel adheres to the rule of law and committed to international law“He said, declaring that the country would do “everything necessary to protect its citizens in accordance with international law.”

These statements are inconsistent with the ruling of the International Court of Justice, which found that Israeli settlement policies and their practices of exploiting natural resources in the occupied Palestinian territories “violate international law.”

For this reason, the International Court of Justice called on Israel to “return land and other immovable property” confiscated from Palestinians since the beginning of the occupation, ignoring the borders recognized by the UN in 1967.

Netanyahu’s Ultra Ministers Call for Annexation

Ultras and anti-Arab government ministers, Itamar Ben Givir and Bezalel SmotrichThose responsible for national security and finance, respectively, quickly responded to the decision by posting slogans on their social media calling for annexation.

“Answer to The Hague: Sovereignty” Smotrich wrote: At the same time, in order to respond to the court’s decision, Ben-Gvir turned to the biblical text: “Here is a people who live apart and who will not be recognized among the nations.”

That same Friday, it was announced that Israel would have administrative control over the so-called “Area B” of the West Bank (still controlled by the Palestinian National Authority), in another controversial decision that furthers the idea of ​​de facto annexation of the territory.

After two orders are signed by Israel’s Central Command, officials selected by Smotrich (who is also in charge of the Settlement Administration) will be given the power to demolish Palestinian buildings in the area.

For its part, the Yesha Council, the body that unites all settlements in the occupied West Bank, also asked to “begin to apply sovereignty” over “Judea and Samaria” (the West Bank), calling for annexation.

“This decision is contrary to justice, contrary to the Bible, morality and international law” said Council President Israel Gantz.

Human rights groups applaud
Israeli human rights groups B’Tselem and Peace Today welcomed the ICJ ruling, which they saw as an opportunity to “end the occupation.”

“Over the past 57 years, Israel has demonstrated that it has no intention of ending its occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem,” B’Tselem condemned, calling on the international community to use all instruments, be they criminal, diplomatic or economic, to bring about an end to the occupation.

Today, there are about 500,000 settlers living in the occupied West Bank, and if the occupation of East Jerusalem is included, that number rises to about 700,000.

EFE