Indeed, it is heartening to note that the United Nations highest court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), has ruled that Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories are illegal and all states should cooperate to bring an end to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Although the findings by the ICJ are not binding, they carry a lot of weight under global law. Ironically and unfortunately, however, Israel’s disregard for the international law is perhaps the most important or formidable impediment to efforts aimed at achieving peace in the Middle East.

The global inaction against the Zionist state has only contributed towards stepping up the latter’s belligerence and aggression against the Palestinians.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) says Israel’s settlement policies and exploitation of natural resources in the Palestinian territory are in breach of international law.

But Israel has vehemently and contemptuously rejected the ICJ ruling as Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen has said that the West Bank “is the land of our ancestors. For 2,000 years we prayed to return there and no distorted decision of a biased and anti-Semitic court will move us an inch.”

In my view, no country except the US and its Western allies can successfully persuade Israel to revisit its policy towards the Palestinians in the greater interest of peace in the region and beyond.

But they will not because they have been acquiescing to each and every belligerent step that Israel takes against the Palestinians gleefully and obligingly. There seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak.

Mumtaz Mufti (Karachi)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024