Israel deepens illegal occupation of Palestine as influential states fail to act, Quakers say
A full year after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled Israel's occupation of Palestine illegal, the UK government has not responded, let alone addressed the situation.
Now Quakers in Britain has joined 15 other organisations working on, and in, Palestine to express exasperation at the government's lack of action.
The ICJ, the world's highest inter-state court, ruled on 19 July 2024 that the 58-year Israeli occupation of the occupied Palestinian territories is unlawful.
The UN General Assembly then voted to demand an end to the occupation by September this year.
In a joint letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer and others, War on Want, Christian Aid and others said the ruling made clear the legal obligations of states, including the UK.
Their continued failure to respond has encouraged Israel to defy the ruling, signatories wrote.
"With impunity, Israel is in fact deepening its illegal occupation and accelerating the accompanying displacement of Palestinians," they added.
Despite the ICJ's clarification of its obligations, the UK government continues to:
- transfer arms to Israel, including F-35 parts used in military activities
- allow the import of goods from the illegal settlements
- take no steps to prevent investment or involvement by UK companies in illegal settlement project and occupation
- fail to suspend or even review its trade deal with Israel
"Our organisations demand that the UK government acts with the utmost urgency to identify and prevent financial, commercial, trade, diplomatic, military, logistical or other support that aid or assist the maintaining of Israel's unlawful occupation of Palestinian territory, in violation of international law," the letter said.
In the year since the UN demanded an end to the occupation, state and state-backed settler attacks on Palestinian West Bank communities continued to soar.
More than 1,000 Palestinians including over 200 children have been killed in the West Bank since October 2023 and 30 Palestinian West Bank communities forcibly transferred.
Palestinian homes are being demolished at the highest rate recorded in over 50 years.
Plans have been re-announced to construct new settlement units, including over 3,000 in the "E1 Area" - a project which will effectively sever the Palestinian West Bank in two.
These policies and practices, the ICJ identified, are designed to "create irreversible effects on the ground" amounting to annexation of Palestinian territory.