Morocco commended the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) advisory opinion issued on July 19, finding that Israel’s policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territory, defined by the Court to include Gaza, the West Bank, and Al Quds (East Jerusalem), “are in breach of Israel’s obligation to respect the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination,” an official source at Morocco’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
In a comprehensive denouncement, the court reviewed Israel’s policies and practices in the Palestinian territory over the past 57 years.
The 15-judge panel detailed a range of Israeli practices that the court found to be “illegal”. The list included expanding settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The court also cited the exploitation of natural resources, and discriminatory measures against Palestinians, all of which were deemed to be violations of international law.
The United Nations’ highest court reviewed the larger question of the “legality of the continued presence of Israel, as an occupying power.”
The Court stated that Israel’s “abuse of its status as the occupying power” makes its “presence in the occupied Palestinian territory unlawful,” and ruled that this presence should be ended “as rapidly as possible.”
The Court also called for an immediate halt to settlement construction and the removal of existing settlements.
Morocco, whose sovereign King Mohammed VI chairs the Al-Quds Committee, believes that the Court’s advisory opinion is important for advancing the Palestinian people’s legitimate rights to establish an independent and sovereign State with Al-Quds as its capital, coexisting with Israel as part of the two-state solution, the Ministry source said.
The Kingdom also condemns all practices and initiatives that seek to change the legal status of the territory and hinder efforts to restore regional security and peace, the same source added.