The International Court of Justice (ICJ) warned in January of a plausible risk that genocide is being committed against Palestinians in Gaza. A separate ICJ advisory opinion in July showed that Palestinians in the West Bank are also facing a fight for their existence. It determined that Israel’s occupation of all Palestinian territory was illegal and must end.
Yet since these rulings, Israel’s actions in Gaza and rapid expansion of settlements and forced displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank have continued unabated.
Without effective international pressure, Israel’s systematic policies against the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank will not stop.
The UK is not a helpless bystander. The ICJ ruling makes clear that all states are obliged to take immediate steps to end their own complicity in these violations of international law.