RAMALLAH, West Bank: The Palestinians on Saturday welcomed a vote by the United Nations General Assembly to ask the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for an opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories.
“The time has come for Israel to be a state subject to law, and to be held accountable for its ongoing crimes against our people,” said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Senior Palestinian official Hussein Al-Sheikh said on Twitter that Friday’s vote “reflects the victory of Palestinian diplomacy.”
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem — areas the Palestinians want for a state — in a 1967 war. It withdrew from Gaza in 2005, but, along with neighboring Egypt, controls the enclave’s borders.
The Hague-based ICJ, also known as the World Court, is the top UN court dealing with disputes between states. Its rulings are binding, though the ICJ has no power to enforce them.
The request for a court opinion on Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories was made in a resolution adopted by the General Assembly with 87 votes in favor. Israel, the United States and 24 other members voted against, while 53 abstained.
“No international body can decide that the Jewish people are ‘occupiers’ in their own homeland. Any decision from a judicial body which receives its mandate from the morally bankrupt and politicized UN is completely illegitimate,” Israel’s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan said in a statement ahead of the vote.
Israel’s former Prime Minister Yair Lapid — who was replaced on Thursday by Benjamin Netanyahu — last month urged world leaders to oppose the move, saying that bringing the matter to the court would “only play into the hands of extremists.”
The Islamist group Hamas took over Gaza in 2007 after a brief civil war with more moderate Palestinian rivals. Hamas and Israel have since fought three Gaza wars.
Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour noted that the vote came one day after the swearing in of a new hard-right Israeli government that promises to expand Jewish settlements and pursue other policies criticized at home and abroad.
“We trust that, regardless of your vote today, if you believe in international law and peace, you will uphold the opinion of the International Court of Justice when delivered and you will stand up to this Israeli government right now,” Mansour told the General Assembly.
The UN General Assembly asked the ICJ to give an advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s “occupation, settlement and annexation ... including measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and from its adoption of related discriminatory legislation and measures.”
The UN resolution also asks the ICJ to advise on how those policies and practices “affect the legal status of the occupation” and what legal consequences arise for all countries and the United Nations from this status.
The ICJ last weighed in on the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians in 2004, when it ruled that an Israeli separation barrier was illegal. Israel rejected that ruling, accusing the court of being politically motivated.
Palestinians say UN vote on Israel’s occupation ‘a victory’
https://arab.news/rz8v8
Palestinians say UN vote on Israel’s occupation ‘a victory’
- Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem in a 1967 war
- The Hague-based ICJ is the top UN court dealing with disputes between states
Israel police to deploy around Al-Aqsa for Ramadan, Palestinians report curbs
- The Al-Aqsa compound is a central symbol of Palestinian identity and also a frequent flashpoint
JERUSALEM: Israeli police said Monday that they would deploy in force around the Al-Aqsa Mosque during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins this week, as Palestinian officials accused Israel of imposing restrictions at the compound.
Over the course of the month of fasting and prayer, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians traditionally attend prayers at Al-Aqsa — Islam’s third-holiest site, located in east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in 1967 and later annexed.
Arad Braverman, a senior Jerusalem police officer, said forces would be deployed “day and night” across the compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, and in the surrounding area.
He said thousands of police would also be on duty for Friday prayers, which draw the largest crowds of Muslim worshippers.
Braverman said police had recommended issuing 10,000 permits for Palestinians from the occupied West Bank, who require special permission to enter Jerusalem.
He did not say whether age limits would apply, adding that the final number of people would be decided by the government.
The Palestinian Jerusalem Governorate said in a separate statement it had been informed that permits would again be restricted to men over 55 and women over 50, mirroring last year’s criteria.
It said Israeli authorities had blocked the Islamic Waqf — the Jordanian?run body administering the site — from carrying out routine preparations, including installing shade structures and setting up temporary medical clinics.
A Waqf source confirmed the restrictions and said 33 of its employees had been barred from entering the compound in the week before Ramadan.
The Al-Aqsa compound is a central symbol of Palestinian identity and also a frequent flashpoint.
Under long?standing arrangements, Jews may visit the compound — which they revere as the site of their second temple, destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD — but they are not permitted to pray there.
Israel says it is committed to maintaining this status quo, though Palestinians fear it is being eroded.
Braverman reiterated Monday that no changes were planned.
In recent years, a growing number of Jewish ultranationalists have challenged the prayer ban, including far?right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir, who prayed at the site while serving as national security minister in 2024 and 2025.
