section_path: Government and politics/Israeli-occupied territories/International opinion
section_name: International opinion
paragraph_text: International opinion
  
  The International Court of Justice said, in its 2004 advisory opinion on the legality of the construction of the Israeli West Bank barrier, that the lands captured by Israel in the Six-Day War, including East Jerusalem, are occupied territory and found that the construction of the wall within the occupied Palestinian territory violates international law. Most negotiations relating to the territories have been on the basis of UN Security Council Resolution 242, which emphasizes "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war", and calls on Israel to withdraw from occupied territories in return for normalization of relations with Arab states (" Land for peace "). Israel has been criticized for engaging in systematic and widespread violations of human rights in the occupied territories, including the occupation itself and war crimes against civilians. The allegations include violations of international humanitarian law by the UN Human Rights Council. The U.S. State Department has called reports of abuses of significant human rights of Palestinians "credible" both within Israel and the occupied territories. Amnesty International and other NGOs have documented mass arbitrary arrests, torture, unlawful killings, systemic abuses and impunity in tandem with a denial of the right to Palestinian self-determination. Prime Minister Netanyahu has defended the country's security forces for protecting the innocent from terrorists and expressed contempt for what he describes as a lack of concern about the human rights violations committed by "criminal killers".
  
  The international community widely regards Israeli settlements in the occupied territories illegal under international law. United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 (passed 2016) states that Israel's settlement activity constitutes a "flagrant violation" of international law and demands that Israel stop such activity and fulfill its obligations as an occupying power under the Fourth Geneva Convention. A United Nations special rapporteur concluded that the settlement program was a war crime under the Rome Statute, and Amnesty International found that the settlement program constitutes an illegal transfer of civilians into occupied territory and "pillage", which is prohibited by the Hague Conventions and Geneva Conventions as well as being a war crime under the Rome Statute.
  
  In a 2024 advisory opinion, the International Court of Justice stated that Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories violated international law; Israel should end its occupation as quickly as possible and pay reparations. The court also advised that other states were under an obligation not to recognise the occupation as lawful nor to aid or assist it. In addition, the court found that Israel was in breach of article 3 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which requires states to prevent, prohibit and eradicate all practices of racial segregation and apartheid.