Israel's declaration of sovereignty over the West Bank: A violation of international law
The West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is part of the territories occupied by Israel following the 1967 war. The United Nations has repeatedly affirmed the legal status of these territories, considering them occupied territories that Israel may not annex or impose its sovereignty over in any way. The Knesset's declaration of Israeli sovereignty over the occupied territories constitutes a violation of the principle of "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force," established by the Security Council on November 22, 1967.
The Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 242 (1967), which "affirmed the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war" and called for "the withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict." This is a fundamental principle of international public law.
This declaration also contravenes Article 2 of the UN Charter, which stipulates respect for the territorial integrity of states and the right of peoples to self-determination. It also contravenes the 1949 Geneva Conventions, particularly the Fourth Convention, which prohibits an occupying power from transferring its civilian population into the territory it occupies. Israel has been practicing this practice for many years through settlement expansion, and today it is attempting to give domestic legal legitimacy to these illegal practices. By declaring sovereignty over the West Bank, Israel violates a series of United Nations resolutions affirming Palestinian rights and calling for an end to the Israeli occupation of the territories occupied in 1967. The most important of these resolutions are:
Resolution 181 of 1947 (the Partition Resolution): This provided for the establishment of two states in Palestine, one Arab and one Jewish, with the internationalization of Jerusalem. This resolution constitutes the legal basis for the establishment of Israel itself. Therefore, ignoring this resolution constitutes a violation of the principle of international legitimacy.
Resolution 242 of 1967: This resolution called on Israel to withdraw from the territories it occupied in the 1967 war, including the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. This resolution constitutes one of the most important foundations upon which the subsequent peace process was built.
Resolution 338 of 1973: This resolution called for a ceasefire and the implementation of Resolution 242, paving the way for the launch of the political process in the Middle East. Resolution 446 of 1979 and subsequent resolutions such as 465 (1980) and 471 (1980): which consider the construction of settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories illegal and demand that Israel cease such settlement activities.
Resolution 2334 of 2016: which reaffirmed the illegality of the settlements and called on Israel to immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem.
In addition, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) affirmed in its 2004 Advisory Opinion on the Separation Wall that the West Bank is an occupied territory and that all Israeli actions aimed at altering its demographic and geographic character are illegal. On July 19, 2024, the ICJ issued a landmark Advisory Opinion declaring that the Israeli occupation and its associated system of systematic discrimination—which amounts to a system of racial segregation and/or apartheid—are illegal. Based on this illegality, the resolution calls on the occupying state of Israel to end the occupation and its associated regime, evacuate the settlements, dismantle the Separation Wall, provide full reparations, and allow the return of displaced Palestinians. Finally, the Court stated that Member States and the United Nations are under an obligation not to recognize the aforementioned illegal or unlawful practices and to refrain from supporting their maintenance, and that the United Nations must consider the precise modalities and additional measures necessary to bring this illegal situation to an end as soon as possible. The declaration of sovereignty represents a clear violation of the Jordanian-Israeli Peace Treaty signed in Wadi Araba in 1994, which stipulated Israel's respect for the June 4, 1967, borders as the basis for any settlement. It also violates the Camp David Accords with Egypt signed in 1979, which affirmed the Palestinians' right to self-rule as a step toward a comprehensive settlement.
The Oslo Accords signed between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel in 1993 stipulated that the West Bank and Gaza Strip are disputed territories whose fate is to be decided through final status negotiations. Any attempt to unilaterally annex them would be considered a nullification of this agreement and a violation of Israel's contractual obligations as a party to it.
This declaration was widely condemned by Arab and Islamic countries, most notably Jordan, which considers the West Bank to be part of Jordan's national security. The European Union also issued statements affirming that any such step undermines the two-state solution and threatens stability in the region. The United Nations, however, deemed the unilateral step illegal and without any impact on the legal status of the Palestinian territories. International bodies have also expressed their fear that this step could ignite a new wave of violence and extinguish any remaining chance of reviving the peace process, especially under a right-wing Israeli government that embraces extremist settlement tendencies.
The Knesset's declaration of sovereignty over the West Bank embodies an attempt to impose a fait accompli by force of occupation. However, it clashes with the wall of international law and UN resolutions, which remain a solid legal reference for a solution, despite attempts to obscure or circumvent them. No matter how much Israel tries to manipulate terminology or impose new policies, the West Bank remains, from the perspective of international law, occupied Palestinian territory, over which any Israeli sovereignty has no legitimacy. A just and comprehensive peace remains contingent on ending the occupation and respecting the Palestinian people's right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
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