World Court says Israel’s presence in Palestinian territories is illegal

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ruled that Israel’s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory is illegal and that it should come to an end “as rapidly as possible”.

Nawaf Salam, president of the ICJ in The Hague, read out the nonbinding advisory opinion on Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory on Friday.

He said that Israel was in breach of the sixth paragraph of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which says the occupying power should not deport or transfer part of its civilian population into the territory it occupies.