"Israel/OPT: ICJ opinion means there can be ‘no business as usual’ for EU and Israel"

Ahead of tomorrow’s EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels, Amnesty International wrote to High Representative / Vice President Josep Borrell Fontelles and EU Foreign Ministers, calling on them to ensure that the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) of 19 July 2024 is translated into effective policies to bring Israel’s violations of international law to an end. [...]

The ICJ has demonstrated that Spain, Ireland and Slovenia are correct in calling for a review of the EU’s Association Agreement with Israel. This is in view of both the ICJ’s Advisory Opinion and the ICJ’s determination that there is a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza in the case brought by South Africa against Israel under the Genocide Convention. Member states blocking such a review are acting against the obligations indicated by the ICJ in its Advisory Opinion.

“The EU has long recognized that the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip are under Israeli occupation. However, the EU’s policies and practices toward Israel fail to address the illegality of Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the serious violations Israel perpetrates to maintain the occupation,” said Eve Geddie, Director of Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office.

“The ICJ Advisory Opinion leaves no room for doubt. The Israeli occupation and its annexation of Palestinian territory are unlawful, as are its policy of establishing settlements, the confiscation of land and exploitation of the natural resources of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Israel’s discriminatory policies, laws and practices against Palestinians violate the prohibition of racial discrimination and apartheid.

“The Court’s findings clearly point to violations of international law committed by Israel and to the obligations of third states not to legitimize or provide any assistance to Israel’s illegal conduct. EU members states’ supply of arms and equipment as well as their trade and investment with illegal Israeli settlements are enabling Israel’s violations of international law and are contrary to their obligations under international law. There can be no business as usual with a state maintaining a brutal, unlawful occupation and perpetrating serious violations of international law, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, on a mass scale.

“The relentless bombardment of Gaza amid a clear risk of genocide, the deadly spike in state-backed settler violence and the latest military offensive in the West Bank are all by-products of Israel’s unlawful occupation and decades of impunity enabled by EU inaction. The EU’s call for a ceasefire and curbing settler violence rings hollow until it takes concrete actions – an immediate arms embargo; a ban on trade with Israeli settlements; and support for action at the UN to bring an end to Israel’s unlawful occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”

Background

The informal Foreign Affairs Council takes place in Brussels on 29 August 2024. To comply with the findings in the ICJ’s Advisory Opinion on Legal Consequences of Israel’s Policies and Practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, Amnesty International is recommending that the EU take the following measures:

• Ban trade and investments in Israeli settlements in the OPT, including occupied East Jerusalem;
• Ban investing in Israeli companies or banks that are contributing to maintain Israel’s unlawful occupation;
• Conduct a legal assessment to determine which aspects of EU-Israel cooperation violate international law.

Read the letter as well as all of Amnesty International’s recommendations to the EU and its member states here.