Pakistan hails ICJ advisory opinion on Israel’s obligations in occupied Palestinian territory

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday welcomed the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), issued on 22 October 2025, on the “Obligations of Israel in Relation to the Presence and Activities of the United Nations, Other International Organisations and Third States in and in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territory”.

Pakistan had participated in the written and oral proceedings of the case before the ICJ and reaffirmed its unwavering support for the UNRWA’s mandate as well as its indispensable and irreplaceable role in delivering life-saving assistance to the Palestinians.

“The Court has unequivocally established that Israel, as the occupying power, is under a legal obligation to facilitate and not obstruct humanitarian relief operations by the UN and its entities, especially the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). It has also reaffirmed the occupying power’s obligation to ensure that the Palestinians receive essential supplies of food, water, shelter, fuel and medical care,” said the Foreign Office while reacting to the ICJ advisory opinion.

Pakistan also called for the immediate and full implementation of the Court’s Advisory Opinion, and the resumption of unhindered UNRWA operations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

“It also reiterates its steadfast and unwavering support for the right of self-determination of the Palestinian people, and the realisation of an independent, sovereign, viable and contiguous State of Palestine, based on pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital,” added the statement.

The Foreign Office pointed out that the ICJ also held that, as an occupying power, Israel has no right to unilaterally extend its domestic laws to the occupied territory in any manner that would impede or undermine the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination over the entirety of the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Meanwhile, Pakistan strongly condemned Israel’s attempt to extend its so-called “sovereignty” over parts of the Occupied West Bank, including illegal Israeli settlements, through a draft law introduced in the legislature of the occupying power.

Once again it called upon the international community to take urgent and decisive action to halt these illegal steps and to hold the Israeli occupying forces accountable for their continued violations of international law. “These actions constitute a flagrant violation of international law, relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions, and the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. Such provocative and unlawful measures, underlined the Foreign Office, completely undermine ongoing efforts to achieve peace and stability in the region.”

Meanwhile, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Republic of Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Republic of Türkiye, the Republic of Djibouti, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Sultanate of Oman, Republic of The Gambia, the State of Palestine, the State of Qatar, the State of Kuwait, the State of Libya, Malaysia, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the League of Arab States, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, condemn in the strongest terms the approval of Israeli Knesset of two draft laws aiming to impose a so called “Israeli sovereignty” over the occupied West Bank, and on Israeli illegal colonial settlements as a blatant violation of international law, and of United Nations Security Council resolutions particularly Resolution 2334, which condemns all Israeli measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character, and status of the occupied Palestinian territory since 1967, including East Jerusalem — in addition to the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, which affirmed the illegality of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and the invalidity of settlement construction and annexation measures in the occupied West Bank. They reaffirm that Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territory.

On the other hand, they welcome the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice of 22 October 2025 on Israel’s Obligations in and in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in which the court reaffirmed Israel’s obligation under international humanitarian law to ensure that the population of the OPT, including Gaza, has the essential supplies of daily life, and to agree to and facilitate by all means at its disposal relief schemes on behalf of the population, including through the United Nations and its entities, particularly the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).