The present review outlines Al-Haq’s examination of state practice as identified in legal written and oral interventions submitted to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) during 2025 in response to the UN General Assembly request for an advisory opinion on the Obligations of Israel in relation to the Presence and Activities of the United Nations, Other International Organizations and Third States in and in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

In the context of Israel’s decades long settler colonial apartheid regime, unlawful presence, escalating genocide, and Israel’s defiance of legal authority, the primary motivation for the request was to challenge Israel’s attacks on UNRWA, the core UN agency providing relief and support to Palestinian refugees and the backbone of the humanitarian response in Gaza.

The present review demonstrates that states’ legal interpretations of Israel’s obligations and conduct are overwhelmingly clear in asserting that as an unlawful Occupying Power, Israel has the obligation to make a full and rapid withdrawal from the Occupied Palestinian Territory, to facilitate the provision of aid and essentials to the Palestinian people, and end its attacks on UNRWA. Submissions overwhelmingly assert that entry into Palestine, and the presence in Palestine of external actors, including private individuals, consular representatives, UN agencies, and humanitarian organisations, is contingent on the consent of the Palestinian people and their representatives, and is in no way an Israeli prerogative.

The urgency of Palestinians realising their right to self-determination, of protecting the UN as an organisation and ensuring the viability of international law, and the profound necessity of protecting Palestinians from genocide has been emphasised. The review demonstrates the urgency of Third States meeting their obligations to ensure the immediate provision of aid and supplies to the starving Palestinians of Gaza, the implementation of the right of return of Palestinian refugees, and the full respect for the Palestinian right to self-determination.

This Advisory Opinion will be the third on Palestine since 2004, in addition to the ICJ’s issuance of three sets of Provisional Measures Orders under the Convention for the Prevention of Genocide, and is being heard against the backdrop of arrest warrants issued against Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and former Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

While legal affirmation of Palestinian rights, and the endorsement of the law by so many states is welcome, without active enforcement by Third States and international organisations, and in the face of escalating genocide and consolidation of Zionist settler-colonialism and apartheid, such legal initiatives will remain but a historical record of the failure of the international community of states.

Please find the report on the UNRWA Advisory Opinion, here.