One of the most striking aspects of the Israeli oppression of the Palestinian people is the fact that all the wrongs which have been committed by Israel are contrary to international law.  Israel is in flagrant breach of UN resolutions, of the International Court of Justice, of  human rights clauses in international agreements and most recently of international law in the conduct of warfare.  This section presents factsheets on Israeli breaches of international law. A download menu is available on the right-hand side of this page.

Israel’s contraventions of the UN Charter
Israel has used force, or threatened to use force, contrary to Article 2.4 of the UN Charter, on many, many occasions from 1948 to the present day. This Briefing Paper lists just a few of them. ...more Israel’s contraventions of the UN Charter

Article 2.4 of the UN Charter states: 'All [UN] Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.' Throughout its existence as a state, Israel has contravened this Article of the UN Charter on many occasions, by threatening or using force against its neighbours – and relentlessly expanded the area under its control. In November 1947, the UN General Assembly proposed that Palestine be partitioned. If Jewish leaders had accepted this UN partition plan, Israel would today consist of about 56% of the land area of Palestine, and Jerusalem would be under international control. That’s what the UN General Assembly recommended in Resolution 181, passed on 29 November 1947. But Jewish leaders didn't accept this partition plan. Instead, the area allocated by the UN General Assembly for a Jewish state was expanded by force to include 78% of Palestine, even though at the time Jews made up only about a third of the population of Palestine as a whole and owned a mere 6% of the land. To ensure that Jews were numerically dominant in the new Jewish state, nearly all the Arabs — around 750,000 — were expelled from it into the rest of Palestine and the surrounding Arab states, where they and their descendants live today. Over 500 Arab villages were destroyed so that those expelled had no homes to return to.

In October 1956, Israel entered into a secret arrangement with the UK and France, who wished to seize the Suez Canal from Egypt. Under this arrangement, Israel invaded Egypt and by so doing provided the pretext for the UK and France to “intervene” and occupy the Canal Zone, ostensibly to protect the Canal. The conspirators were forced to withdraw by the US. This action was contrary to Article 2.4 of the UN Charter.

In June 1967, Israel attacked Egypt, Jordan and Syria, forcibly occupying the remaining 22% of Palestine (the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza), plus portions of Egyptian territory (the Sinai Peninsula) and Syrian territory (the Golan Heights). These actions were contrary to Article 2.4 of the UN Charter. The Sinai remained under Israeli military occupation until the Camp David Accords over a decade later. The West Bank and Gaza remain under Israeli military occupation today. The Golan Heights and East Jerusalem were subsequently annexed.

Israel proceeded to build Jewish settlements in the areas it occupied, contrary to Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. It has continued to do so despite Security Council demands (in resolutions 446, 452 and 465) that it cease building settlements and remove those it has built. Likewise, Israel has refused to comply with Security Council demands that it reverse its annexation of East Jerusalem (in resolutions 252, 267, 271, 298, 476 and 478) and of the Golan Heights (in resolution 497). Israel has also refused to comply with the ruling of the International Court of Justice in July 2004 that it “cease forthwith the works of construction of the wall being built in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, to dismantle forthwith the structure therein situated and to repeal or render ineffective forthwith all legislative and regulatory acts relating thereto”. More than 40 years later, the West Bank and Gaza remain under Israeli military control, the building of Jewish settlements on occupied Arab land continues apace, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights remain annexed – and the Wall lengthens daily.

In 1978, and again in 1982, it attacked Lebanon and occupied parts of it militarily until 2000. These actions were contrary to Article 2.4 of the UN Charter. For over 20 years, it ignored the Security Council demand (in resolution 425, passed on 19 March 1978) that called upon it “immediately to cease its military action against Lebanese territorial integrity and withdraw forthwith its forces from all Lebanese territory”. It finally withdrew its ground forces from Lebanon (apart from Shebaa Farms), because of military pressure from Hezbollah.

Israel’s use of force, and threat to use force, contrary to Article 2.4 of the UN Charter, continues unabated. On 6 September 2007, an Israeli aircraft entered Syrian airspace and bombed a building allegedly housing a nuclear facility; Israeli aircraft regularly enter Lebanese airspace and violate Lebanese sovereignty; and hardly a day passes without a member of the Israeli government threatening to attack Iran – all actions that are contrary to Article 2.4 of the UN Charter.

Click for more information - the Briefing Document.

UN Security Council resolutions contravened by Israel
Israel is in breach of many more UN Security Council resolutions, demanding action by it and it alone, than any other UN member state. If Israel had complied with these resolutions, there would be no Jewish settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem; its annexations of the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem would be reversed; and its secret nuclear facilities would be open to IAEA inspection, like Iran’s. A Briefing Document listing these contraventions is available here (PDF 243kB) or for more detail please go to the relevant Sadaka UN page here

International Court of Justice (ICJ) Ruling on the Wall
A brief outline of how the Wall in the West Bank, which was declared contrary to international law by the International Court of Justice in 2004, disrupts the lives of Palestinians. ...more The International Court of Justice on the Wall

On 7 July 2004, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s construction of the Wall in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) to be 'contrary to international law'. The Court went on to order Israel to 'cease forthwith the works of construction of the wall' and 'dismantle forthwith the structure' already built. It also called on Israel to 'make reparations' for the 'requisition and destruction of homes, businesses and agricultural holdings' and 'to return the land, orchards, olive groves, and other immovable property seized' to construct the wall. Israel has thumbed its nose at this ruling and continued to build the Wall – and the international community hasn’t forced Israel to comply with the ruling.

Security fence?
Israel’s initial justification for building the Wall was that it was a security fence, designed to protect Israeli citizens from attack by Palestinians from the West Bank. If the Wall had followed the Green Line – the border between Israel and the Palestinian West Bank – this justification might have some credibility. But, it doesn’t. Instead, 86% of its projected route is inside the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and its circuitous route was chosen so that it encircles 80 Jewish settlements, physically connecting them to Israel. These settlements contain some 385,000 Jewish settlers, that is, nearly 80% of the total (about 500,000) in occupied Palestine. As currently projected, the Wall will be 725 km long, when complete. By contrast, a security fence built on the Green Line would have been less than half the length – and cost a great deal less to build.

Lives of Palestinians severely disrupted
The construction of the Wall has severely disrupted the lives of Palestinians residing in its vicinity. See, for example, The Humanitarian Impact of the Barrier [4] and West Bank Barrier Route Projections [5] by UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. For example, Israel has declared the area between the Wall and the Green Line to be ‘closed’ by military order and most Palestinians who live there are required to have ‘permanent resident’ permits to continue to live in their own homes. This restriction is discriminatory, since it doesn’t apply to Israeli citizens or to any person of Jewish origin, who, under the Law of Return, has a right to live in Israel. Because of the Wall, Palestinians living in this ‘closed’ zone have become physically separated from the rest of the West Bank, where health and education services are generally located. As a result, children, patients and workers have to pass through checkpoints to reach schools, medical facilities and workplaces and to maintain family and social relations. Passage through the Wall is at the discretion of individual Israeli soldiers and is often refused, regardless of the purpose of the journey.

The legal process
On 8 December 2003, the UN General Assembly passed resolution ES-10/14 requesting the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to give an Advisory Opinion on the following question: 'What are the legal consequences arising from the construction of the wall being built by Israel, the occupying Power, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, as described in the report of the Secretary-General, considering the rules and principles of international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, and relevant Security Council and General Assembly resolutions?' [6] Resolution ES-10/14 was passed by 90 votes to 8 (with 74 abstentions) with the Israel and the US opposing. All the EU states, including Ireland, abstained.

Click for more information - the Briefing Document.

The original ICJ ruling may be found here (External Link)