NGOs call for government to meet its international obligations – one year after ICJ’s landmark ruling on Israel’s unlawful occupation

London, 18th July

• – 16 civil society organisations call upon UK Government to take action to end UK complicity in violations of Palestinian rights, and to help bring occupation to a rapid end
  
• – Calls come one year after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued its landmark Advisory Opinion on the illegality of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory and add to mounting pressure for UK Government to take action
  
• – Civil society groups include War on Want, Global Action Legal Network, International Centre of Justice for Palestinians and Global Justice Now.

Civil society organisations have written to the government to say they are “exasperated” at the government’s failure to take action to meet its international legal obligations, one year after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a landmark Advisory Opinion on the illegality of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory.

As well as determining that Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territory is unlawful, the Opinion called upon all states to take the necessary action to ensure that they are not complicit in violations of the rights of Palestinians under unlawful Israeli occupation and to help bring the occupation to a rapid end.

The judgment obliges UN member states not to recognise or render aid or assistance to Israel’s unlawful occupation, and to ensure that trade and investment dealings with Israel do not entrench unlawful occupation.

In a letter to the government, civil society organisations say that the government has “failed for a whole year to respond to, let alone implement” the AO. The letter further states that the “failure to implement these obligations represents a failure to respect Palestinians’ inalienable right to self-determination”, and calls for the suspension of arms sales, trade and investment with settlements, and the existing UK-Israel Trade Partnership Agreement.

Over 100 MPs and peers also wrote to the government this week, calling for it to publish its official response to the Advisory Opinion and to address its obligations under international law.

Amid growing pressure on the UK government to comply with its obligations and to issue a response to the judgement, and as Israel’s unlawful occupation of the Palestinian territory deepens and intensifies, the government continues to state that it is still considering its response to the ICJ’s advisory opinion.

State and state-backed settler attacks on Palestinian West Bank communities have escalated further in recent years, with more than 1,000 Palestinians including over 200 children killed since October 2023 and 30 Palestinian West Bank communities forcibly transferred in the same period. Meanwhile, Palestinian homes are being demolished at the highest rate recorded in over 50 years.

Gearóid Ó Cuinn, GLAN Director, said, “The UK’s silence one year on from the ICJ’s ruling is not neutrality—it’s complicity. By continuing to arm, trade with, and politically shield Israel, the UK is helping to sustain an illegal occupation that the world’s highest court has declared must end. This is a moment for action, not deliberate delay.”

Neil Sammonds, senior campaigner at War on Want, said, “This government has said it is placing international law at the heart of its foreign policy. Its response to the ICJAO indicates that it is more correct to say it is shoving international law where the sun doesn’t shine. This government must act incredibly fast or will forever be deeply tainted as the government of complicity in illegal occupation, apartheid and genocide.”

Tim Bierley, campaigner at Global Justice Now said: “While the UK has continued to stall, delay and distract from its international obligations to help end Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territory, Israel has been intensifying this system of racist discrimination and expanding settlements. The government must finally act urgently to enact a full arms embargo to protect Palestinian life, and to end all economic ties with Israel that assist Israel’s unlawful occupation.”

Note to editors: 

• The full letter from 16 NGOs and trade union is available here.
• A letter from over 100 MPs and peers is available on request – please contact Chris Doyle Doylec@caabu.org
• A separate letter with specific demands to the government was also sent today and signed by 80+ MPs. Please contact Lee Brown at the office of Richard Burgon MP for a copy, lee.brown@parliament.uk