Israel Occupation of West Bank : What does the international community opine

Israel and Palestine have been at war since the British Colonization rule. The power and quench to hold autonomy over a particular territory has questioned the standards of both the parties of Israel and Palestine. The continuous killing of people over the territory of Gaza and the West Bank enraged the world population and some countries. The war has seen an immigration crisis, a food and shelter crisis, and a healthcare malfunction with the absolute loss of human rights of civilians. The Israel Occupied part of Palestine has been called illegal and unlawful by many international countries including South Africa which first voiced the injustice.

History:

Palestine is an unrecognized state by the United Nations which primarily was part of the Ottoman territories governed under the UK colonization regime during the 1920s. In the upcoming years, all the neighboring states of Palestine had their sovereignty except for Palestine. The land ever since has been in dispute. The problem with the Palestine occupation was that of whom the land belonged to, Jews or Muslims?

During the Second World War, a huge portion of the Jewish communities from Eastern Europe migrated to Palestine during the 1930s. This led to a frivolous reaction amongst the Arabs residing in the already existing Palestine. The Immigration was a result of the Balfour Agreement. Upon continuous rebellion, the UN decided to terminate the Balfour Declaration and divided the territory into two parts occupied by Jews and Arabs respectively. The Jewish territory is now called Israel which also claimed independence from other captured Western states.

In the 1948 war, a major chunk of Palestine was lost to Israel which led to 77% of occupation. Upon another war in 1967, Israel occupied parts of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank of Palestine. The Security Council of the UN upon analyzing the aftermath of the war, proposed a Resolution called Resolution 242 to make Israel withdraw from the occupied territories. The resolution also proposed measures to ensure just and lasting peace, a refugee programmed and to stop all forms of belligerency. Palestine and Israel then agreed to a treaty calling for peace and negotiations. In 1974, the General Assembly expressed the inalienable rights of the Palestinians for nationality, self-determination of state and sovereignty.

 

However, the peace negotiations backfired when Israel invaded Lebanon to eliminate the Palestine Liberation Organization. The International Conference on the Question of Palestine (ICQP) adopted the following principles in September 1983: all states in the region have the right to exist within safe and internationally recognized borders; the Palestinian people must achieve their legitimate and inalienable rights; and Israeli settlements and actions to alter Jerusalem's status must be opposed. In 1987, an uprising started to question the Israel-occupied Palestinian Territory. Israel did not ease down in the attacks to keep the territory occupied in its control and subsequently, in 1988 the Palestine National Council meeting proclaimed the state of Palestine.  Throughout the years, there were multiple peace conferences and negotiations which resulted in massive failures and loss of thousands of lives. This included making several agreements and peace treaties which mandated the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the occupied territory. In the 90s, Palestine had established a government setup through a mode of elections and created an administration. For a while, the representative of Palestine was also observed in the UN for humanitarian needs and grounds. 

 

In early 2000, Israel Constructed a wall in the West Bank, which is claimed to be occupied by Israeli forces. The ICJ in its ruling held that such construction of the wall is illegal.However,  Israel continued to maintain control over Gaza's borders, coastline, and airspace even after removing its settlers and troops from the area in 2005. This led to the emergence of Hamas in Gaza which is an armed takeover. Multiple recognition and revocation of rights followed in the 2000s which gave unanimous power to Israel. However, the international community recognized the need for humanitarian measures to protect the civilization of Palestinians. After the establishment of a Palestinian national unity government in April 2014, Israel halted a new round of discussions that had started in 2013. July–August of 2014 saw another outbreak of conflict between Israel and Gaza. The to-and-fro negotiation did not result in a fruitful conclusion. In October 2023 Hamas struck Israel to leave the occupation of the West Bank which resulted in a huge outbreak.

 ICJ claims in West Bank Occupation: 

The International Court of Justice, in December 2023, initiated a hearing upon the request of the UN General Assembly for the occupation of Israel in Gaza and whether it is unlawful. The hearing took place in Hague in which 52 countries are presenting their arguments in favor of Palestine. The Country's arguments rely on the consequences of Israel’s occupation. The Bench is constituted of 15 judges whose duty is to scrutinize the legal status of the occupation.

 The Prime Minister of Israel took the stance of not following any orders passed in the favor of Israel and they would maintain the security control over the West Bank.

The submissions by the countries included humanitarian concerts, the right to self-determination, the right to nationality, and many other subjects. Previously, the ICJ ruled in favor of Palestine for the demolishing of the law in 2007 while the UNGA requested action against Israel’s occupation. It is impertinent to note that the capacity of ICJ in these proceedings is of advisory level to analyze the legal consequences of Israel’s occupation.

The Palestinian people during the proceedings expressed their grievances about the lack of progress in putting a ceasefire to end the war. The representative of Palestine argued that the number of people killed including children is unjustifiable. He stated that the government of Israel is the most extreme rightist government that history has ever seen. He also observed the sheer lack of recognition of the violation of child rights by the international community. Furthermore, he said, the current government is accelerating annexation, especially to the majority area, or so-called Area C, which makes up around 60% of the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Extremist elements are threatening to destroy homes, uproot families, and target holy sites in occupied East Jerusalem as well as Muzafer Yatta and other regions of the Occupied Territory. He bemoaned the immobility of the international community, particularly the Security Council, which restates lofty ideals without taking concrete action to hold Israel responsible and compel it to fulfil its obligations under the UN Charter, in compliance with resolutions and international law.

The law about occupation is set on Article 42 of the Hague Convention which states that Territory is considered occupied when it is placed under the authority of the hostile army. The occupation extends only to the territory where such authority has been established and can be exercised. All the countries representing the rights of the Palestinian people believe that Israel is in grave violation of the law on occupation. The occupation should not lead to a major change in the territory and should not be harmful. South Africa while presenting its case stated that Israel practices an extreme form of apartheid against Palestinians. In Afrikaans, the word means "apartness" or a policy of isolation. From the 1940s until its repeal in the early 1990s, South Africa's Black citizens were subjected to apartheid. According to the Rome Statute to the International Criminal Court and the 1973 International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid, the components of apartheid include a desire to keep one racial group dominant over another, a situation when one racial group consistently oppresses another and acts that are cruel.

The United States of America recently called for a ceasefire and said that the new Israeli Settlements homes in the Occupied part are illegal. The Israeli government plans on building 2350 housing units in Palestine land which has been criticized by the international community, The settlements are considered to be counterproductive to achieving peace and inconsistent to international law.

Countries like Fiji, Turkey, Maldives, the League of Arab States, African Union all call for a peaceful two-state solution without any intervention by state parties. The solicitor general of Zambia stated that the country acknowledges the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and Israel's security needs, but both must adhere to international human rights and humanitarian law. 

In conclusion, the sufferings of the Palestinian people what may feel like a letdown by the international community is a direct result of the blatant violation of rule of law and international customs. Through the war principles of international law, it can be observed that both parties have violated the doctrine of just war. The only solution to the existing crisis is a peaceful strategy to make the territory into two states without any occupation. While the ICJ has closed its hearings, most of humanity seeks for a ceasefire from the occupied parts of West Bank and Gaza.