Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on the Legal Consequences Arising From Israel's Policies and Practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Including East Jerusalem, and From the Illegality of Israel's Continued Presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

A/RES/ES-10/24View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 5 Illegal Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, published in 2024.

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

1 report · 2024

Year	Symbol	Title		Mandate resolution
2024	A/79/588	Advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the legal consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and from the illegality of the continued presence of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory report of the Secretary-General		A/RES/ES-10/24

What subjects does this mandate have?

12 subjects

Advisory Opinions Conferences Damages International Humanitarian Law Israel Palestine Question Racial Discrimination Sanctions Self-Determination of Peoples Settlement Policy Territories Occupied by Israel Troop Withdrawal

What’s in this document?

40 operative paragraphs

Welcomes the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice of 19 July 2024 on the legal consequences arising from Israel’s policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and from the illegality of Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory;

Demands that Israel brings to an end without delay its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which constitutes a wrongful act of a continuing character entailing its international responsibility, and do so no later than 12 months from the adoption of the present resolution;

Demands that Israel comply without delay with all its legal obligations under international law, including as stipulated by the International Court of Justice, by, inter alia:

Withdrawing all its military forces from the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including its airspace and maritime space;

Putting an end to its unlawful policies and practices, including ceasing immediately all new settlement activity, evacuating all settlers from the Occupied Palestinian Territory and dismantling the parts of the wall constructed by Israel that are situated in the Territory, and repealing all legislation and measures creating or maintaining the unlawful situation, including those which discriminate against the Palestinian people, as well as all measures aimed at modifying the demographic composition, character and status of any parts of the Territory, including all measures violating the historic status quo at the holy sites of Jerusalem;

Returning the land and other immovable property, as well as all assets seized from any natural or legal person since its occupation started in 1967, and all cultural property and assets taken from Palestinians and Palestinian institutions;

Allowing all Palestinians displaced during the occupation to return to their original place of residence;

Making reparation for the damage caused to all the natural and legal persons concerned in the Occupied Palestinian Territory;

Immediately complying with obligations under international law indicated in the respective provisional measures orders of the International Court of Justice in the case concerning the application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide⁷ (South Africa v. Israel) in relation to the right of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip to be protected from all acts within the scope of articles II and III of the Convention;

⁷Resolution 260 A (III), annex.

Not impeding the Palestinian people from exercising its right to self-determination, including its right to an independent and sovereign State, over the entirety of the Occupied Palestinian Territory;

Calls upon all States to comply with their obligations under international law, inter alia, as reflected in the advisory opinion, including their obligation:

To promote, through joint and separate action, the realization of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, the respect of which is an obligation erga omnes, and refrain from any action which deprives the Palestinian people of this right and, while respecting the Charter of the United Nations and international law, to ensure that any impediment resulting from the illegal presence of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory to the exercise by the Palestinian people of its right to self-determination is brought to an end;

Not to recognize as legal the situation arising from the unlawful presence of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory;

Not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by Israel’s illegal presence in the Territory;

Not to recognize any changes in the physical character or demographic composition, institutional structure or status of the territory occupied by Israel on 5 June 1967, including East Jerusalem, except as agreed by the parties through negotiations, as affirmed by the Security Council in its resolution 2334 (2016), and the obligation in this regard, in relation to, inter alia, their diplomatic, political, legal, military, economic, commercial and financial dealings with Israel, to distinguish between Israel and the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including by:

Abstaining from treaty relations with Israel in all cases in which it purports to act on behalf of the Occupied Palestinian Territory or a part thereof on matters concerning the Occupied Palestinian Territory or a part of its territory;

Abstaining from entering into economic or trade dealings with Israel concerning the Occupied Palestinian Territory or parts thereof which may entrench its unlawful presence in the Territory, including with regard to the settlements and their associated regime;

iii

Abstaining, in the establishment and maintenance of diplomatic missions in Israel, from any recognition of its illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including by refraining from the establishment of diplomatic missions in Jerusalem, pursuant to Security Council resolution 478 (1980) of 20 August 1980;

Taking steps to prevent trade or investment relations that assist in the maintenance of the illegal situation created by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including with regard to the settlements and their associated regime;

To ensure, as States parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention, compliance with international humanitarian law as embodied in that Convention, in particular pursuant to their obligations under articles 146, 147 and 148 regarding penal sanctions and grave breaches, while respecting the Charter of the United Nations and international law and underscoring the urgency of undertaking measures to enforce the Convention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem;

To undertake efforts towards bringing to an end systemic discrimination based on, inter alia, race, religion or ethnic origin, including to prevent, prohibit and eradicate the violations by Israel of article 3 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination identified in the advisory opinion;

Also calls upon all States in this regard, consistent with their obligations under international law:

To take steps to ensure that their nationals, and companies and entities under their jurisdiction, as well as their authorities, do not act in any way that would entail recognition or provide aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by Israel’s illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory;

To take steps towards ceasing the importation of any products originating in the Israeli settlements, as well as the provision or transfer of arms, munitions and related equipment to Israel, the occupying Power, in all cases where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that they may be used in the Occupied Palestinian Territory;

To implement sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, against natural and legal persons engaged in the maintenance of Israel’s unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in relation to settler violence;

To support accountability efforts for all victims;

Calls upon international organizations, including the United Nations, and regional organizations not to recognize as legal the situation arising from the unlawful presence of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and to distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory and not to recognize, or cooperate with or assist in any manner in, any measures undertaken by Israel to exploit the natural resources of the Occupied Palestinian Territory or to effect any changes in the demographic composition or geographic character or institutional structure of the Territory;

Calls upon the United Nations, and its bodies and organs, to respect and act in a manner consistent with the determinations made by the International Court of Justice, including in relation to all relevant maps, statements and reports, as well as in their respective programmes and actions;

Strongly deplores the continued and total disregard and breaches by the Government of Israel of its obligations under the Charter of the United Nations, international law and the relevant United Nations resolutions, and stresses that such breaches seriously threaten regional and international peace and security;

Recognizes that Israel must be held to account for any violations of international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including any violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, and that it must bear the legal consequences of all its internationally wrongful acts, including by making reparation for the injury, including any damage, caused by such acts;

Recognizes in this regard the need for the establishment of an international mechanism for reparation for all damage, loss or injury arising from the internationally wrongful acts of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and calls for the creation by Member States, in coordination with the United Nations and its relevant bodies, of an international register of damage to serve as a record, in documentary form, of evidence and claims information on damage, loss or injury to all natural and legal persons concerned, as well as to the Palestinian people, caused by the internationally wrongful acts of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as well as to promote and coordinate evidence-gathering and initiatives aimed at securing such reparation by Israel;

Emphasizes the need to ensure accountability for the most serious crimes under international law through appropriate, fair and independent investigations and prosecutions at the national or international level, and to ensure justice for all victims and the prevention of future crimes;

Calls for the convening of a Conference of High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the protection of civilian persons in time of war on measures to enforce the Convention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and to ensure respect thereof in accordance with common article 1 of the four Geneva Conventions,⁸ and invites in this regard the Government of Switzerland, in its capacity as the depositary of the Geneva Conventions, to convene the Conference within six months of the adoption of the present resolution;

⁸United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, Nos. 970–973.

Decides to convene during the seventy-ninth session of the General Assembly an international conference under the auspices of the Assembly for the implementation of the United Nations resolutions pertaining to the question of Palestine and the two-State solution for the achievement of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the Middle East;

Requests the Secretary-General, in consultation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and Member States with relevant experience and expertise, to present proposals, in the report requested in the present resolution, for the establishment of a mechanism to follow up on the violations by Israel of article 3 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination identified by the International Court of Justice in its advisory opinion;

Confirms its determination to examine further practical ways and means to secure the full respect of the advisory opinion and the full implementation of all relevant United Nations resolutions, notably in case of non-compliance;

Urges all States, the United Nations and its specialized agencies and organizations, as well as regional organizations, to support and assist the Palestinian people in the early realization of its right to self-determination and to actively pursue steps to ensure full implementation of the advisory opinion and of all relevant United Nations resolutions;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit a report to the General Assembly within three months on the implementation of the present resolution, including any actions taken by Israel, other States and international organizations, including the United Nations, for the implementation of its provisions or for any violations thereof;

Reaffirms the permanent responsibility of the United Nations with regard to the question of Palestine until it is resolved in all its aspects in accordance with international law and the relevant United Nations resolutions;

Decides to adjourn the tenth emergency special session temporarily and to authorize the President of the General Assembly at its most recent session to resume its meeting upon request from Member States.

All references to the Occupied Palestinian Territory in the text refer to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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