Trudeau urges Israel response to UN court opinion on West Bank, Gaza

The International Court of Justice's non-binding opinion released last week was an unprecedented, sweeping condemnation of Israel's rule over the lands it captured 57 years ago.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called for Israel to “respond substantively” to the top United Nations court’s recent advisory opinion that Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territories is unlawful and that it should end.

The International Court of Justice’s non-binding opinion released last week was an unprecedented, sweeping condemnation of Israel’s rule over the lands it captured 57 years ago.

Trudeau responded to the court’s advice as part of a joint statement from Canada, Australia and New Zealand on Friday, calling for the reversal of settlements in the West Bank.

The statement, released by the Prime Minister’s Office, calls on Israel to “ensure accountability for ongoing acts of violence against Palestinians by extremist settlers, reverse the record expansion of settlements in the West Bank which are illegal under international law, and work towards a two-state solution.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly denounced the non-binding opinion last week, and insisted the territories are part of the Jewish people’s historic homeland.

In written submissions, Israel said the questions put to the court fail to address Israeli security concerns. Israeli officials have said the court’s intervention could undermine the peace process, which has been stagnant for more than a decade.

“The Jewish people are not conquerors in their own land — not in our eternal capital Jerusalem and not in the land of our ancestors in Judea and Samaria,” Netanyahu said in a statement issued by his office last week, using the biblical terms for the West Bank.

“No false decision in The Hague will distort this historical truth and likewise the legality of Israeli settlement in all the territories of our homeland cannot be contested.”