Israel fails to comply with UN’s 12-month deadline to end occupation
Israel fails to comply with UN’s 12-month deadline to end occupation
The United Nations' 12-month deadline for Israel to end its occupation of the Palestinian territories of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem is expiring on Thursday.
On 18 September 2024, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a resolution that called on all states to take effective action against Israel’s violations of international law, including accountability, sanctions and cessation of support, within one year of adoption.
The resolution was hailed as a “historic” vote, with a two-third majority of states (124) voting in favour, 14 against and 43 abstentions.
However, Israel has failed to comply and has further entrenched its occupation of Palestinian lands, expanding settlements in the West Bank, while continuing its genocide in Gaza, including with a new ground offensive this week.
The UN resolution was meant to give effect to the 19 July 2024 advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which confirmed the illegality of Israel’s continued occupation of the Palestinian territories (including the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem) and the obligations of third states not to legally recognise the situation created by Israel’s occupation.
The ICJ ruling, affirmed by the UNGA, declared Israel’s very presence in occupied Palestinian territory a breach of fundamental international legal norms, including the Palestinians’ right to self-determination, the prohibition of racial descrimination and apartheid, as well as the absolute prohibition of annexation through the use of force.
The breach of fundamental legal norms triggers immediate legal obligations on Israel and third states to end the occupation and cease any support or recognition for it.
However, a year later, Israel has defied the ICJ and UNGA’s recommendations, while most states have not complied with their obligations under international law as stipulated by the resolution.
The text in particular called upon third states to take the following steps:
- Prevent their citizens, companies, and authorities from recognising or assisting Israel’s unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territories.
- Halt imports of goods from Israeli settlements and stop arms transfers to Israel where there is a risk they may be used in the occupied territories.
- Impose sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, on individuals and entities involved in maintaining Israel’s unlawful presence, including those linked to settler violence.
- Support accountability efforts for all victims.
Some countries have taken steps over the past year, whether independently or collectively, in response to the genocide in Gaza and the continued occupation and apartheid imposed on Palestinians.
'International law must be enforced'
Since its launch in January, The Hague Group, a bloc of eight countries from the Global South formed to hold Israel accountable under international law, has been seeking to translate the UNGA resolution into concrete measures.
It is due to hold a ministerial meeting on the sidelines of the General Assembly on 26 September in New York during Israel’s presentation to discuss collective and coordinated measures being implemented at national and international levels.
Later that day, Colombia and South Africa, co-chairs of the Hague Group, will present a collective plan of legal and diplomatic measures to halt the genocide in Gaza and defend the integrity of international institutions.
'As member states, we must collectively use our courts, our ports, our factories and financial systems to interrupt the material arteries of the genocide'
- Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla, The Hague Group
“Gaza is the litmus test of our lifetime, and states' response to Israel's assault on Palestine will be the defining moment of UN General Assembly week in New York,” Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla, the group’s chair, told Middle East Eye.
Diplomatic and legal measures against Israel over the past year have been fragmented, said Gandikota-Nellutla, and this is where the Hague Group is seeking to make a difference.
“As member states, we must collectively use our courts, our ports, our factories and financial systems to interrupt the material arteries of the genocide,” she said.
“The Hague Group will be in New York to make that case: international law must be enforced, and only collective and coordinated state action can end the Gaza genocide."
While most states have failed to stop Israel's genocide or implement the UNGA's resolution, the past year has seen a changing tide even among Israel's allies.
European states have so far failed to agree on the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which legal experts argue is incompatible with the ICJ's advisory opinion and the UNGA resolution.
But for the first time the European Commission on Wednesday announced a proposal to suspend the free trade pillar of the Association Agreement and sanction Israeli far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, in measures that represent a major blow to Israel-EU relations.
Meanwhile, a group of EU states have taken unilateral steps against Israel over the past few months as the bloc as a whole has demurred.
Earlier this month, Spain barred Ben Gvir and Smotrich from entering the country, and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez declared nine measures were being taken that he said aimed to prevent Israel's genocide in Gaza.
They included a full arms embargo on Israel and banning the entry of Israeli officials suspected of involvement in the genocide.
Slovenia last month became the first EU country to take action independently, imposing a full arms embargo on Israel. Later in August, Germany announced the suspension of military exports to Israel that could be used in Gaza, in response to Israel’s plan to fully occupy the Palestinian enclave.
Sweden and the Netherlands have also called on the EU to suspend the agreement with Israel over the continued Gaza siege and its ban on the UN's humanitarian aid operations.
