RAMALLAH: The office of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas welcomed a "historic" decision by the International Court of Justice on Friday ruling Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories illegal.
"The presidency welcomes the decision of the International Court of Justice, considers it a historic decision and demands that Israel be compelled to implement it," it said in a statement on official Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Abbas's office added that it considers "the court's decision a victory for justice, as it confirmed that the Israeli occupation is illegitimate".
The Palestinian foreign ministry called it "a watershed moment for Palestine, for justice and for international law".
"Israel is under an obligation to end this illegal colonial enterprise unconditionally, and in our view, that means immediately and totally," it added.
The International Court of Justice said Israel's policies and practices, including its expansion of Jewish settlements regarded as illegal under international law and its maintenance of a separation barrier that in places cuts through the West Bank, "amount to annexation of large parts" of the occupied territory.
The advisory opinion from The Hague-based court is not binding.
After the ruling, Palestinian minister of state for foreign affairs Varsen Aghabekian Shahin said, it was "a great day for Palestine, historically and legally".
"This is the highest judicial body in the world and it has presented a very detailed analysis of what is going on through Israel's prolonged occupation and colonisation of the Palestinian territory in violation of international law."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the International Court of Justice had made a "decision of lies" on Friday by ruling Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories illegal.
"The Jewish people are not occupiers in their own land -- not in our eternal capital Jerusalem, nor in our ancestral heritage of Judea and Samaria" (the occupied West Bank), Netanyahu said in a statement.
"No decision of lies in The Hague will distort this historical truth, and similarly, the legality of Israeli settlements in all parts of our homeland cannot be disputed."
The UN's top court on Friday said Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian territory was "illegal" and needed to end as soon as possible.
The advisory opinion of The Hague-based is not binding, but it comes amid mounting concern over Israel's war against Hamas sparked by the group's brutal October 7 attacks.
"The court has found that Israel's continued presence in the Palestinian Territories is illegal," International Court of Justice presiding judge Nawaf Salam said, adding: "Israel must end the occupation as rapidly as possible."
The ICJ added that Israel was "under an obligation to cease immediately all new settlement activities and to evacuate all settlers" from occupied land.
Israel's policies and practices including the building of new settlements and Israel's continued maintainance of a wall between the territories "amount to annexation of large parts" of the occupied territory, it said.
A separate, high-profile case that South Africa has brought before the court alleges that Israel has committed genocidal acts during its Gaza offensive.
The UN's General Assembly asked the ICJ in late 2022 to give an "advisory opinion" on the "legal consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem".
The ICJ held a week-long session in February to hear submissions from countries following the request -- supported by most countries within the Assembly.
During the hearings, most speakers called on Israel to end its 57-year occupation. They warned a prolonged occupation posed an "extreme danger" to stability in the Middle East and beyond. - AFP
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