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If there was any lingering ambiguity about the illegality of Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian territory, it should have been quashed by a landmark ruling from the world’s top court. In a detailed 83-page advisory opinion released last week, the International Court of Justice probed Israel’s activities in Palestinian lands it has controlled since 1967. The result was damning.
如果说以色列对巴勒斯坦领土长达数十年占领的非法性还存在任何模糊不清之处的话，那么它们应该被世界最高法庭的一项具有里程碑意义的裁决所消除。在上周公布的一份长达83页的详细咨询意见中，国际法院对以色列自1967年以来在其控制的巴勒斯坦领土上的活动进行了调查。结果令人震惊。
The UN court found that virtually every Israeli action in the territory violated international law. The settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem that are home to some 700,000 Israeli Jews. The restrictions on the free movement of Palestinians. Their forced displacement and the demolitions of their homes. It concluded that Israel’s practices amount to annexation of large parts of the occupied territory, adding that they are designed to “create irreversible effects on the ground”. Israel’s presence was “unlawful” and it was obliged to end it as “rapidly as possible”.
联合国法院认定，以色列在该领土上的几乎所有行动都违反了国际法。在约旦河西岸和东耶路撒冷的定居点居住着约70万以色列犹太人。巴勒斯坦人的自由行动遭到限制。巴勒斯坦人被迫流离失所，房屋被拆毁。委员会得出结论，以色列的做法等同于吞并了大部分被占领土，并补充说，这些做法旨在“在当地造成不可逆转的影响”。以色列的存在是“非法的”，它有义务“尽快”结束这种存在。
The opinion is non-binding, and it will not temper the behaviour of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government, which includes ultranationalist settlers who advocate annexing the West Bank. Indeed, settlement construction has accelerated under Netanyahu’s watch as he has boasted of thwarting Palestinian ambitions for statehood. Israel also has a history of ignoring UN resolutions and international court judgments critical of its actions, with the quiet acquiescence of its western allies.
该意见不具约束力，也不会改变本雅明•内塔尼亚胡总理的极右翼政府的行为，该政府内的极端民族主义定居者主张吞并约旦河西岸。事实上，在内塔尼亚胡的领导下，定居点建设已经加速，因为他一直吹嘘要挫败巴勒斯坦人的建国野心。以色列还曾无视联合国决议和国际法庭对其行动的批评，而其西方盟友默许了这种行为。
But the findings of the ICJ — which is also hearing a separate case brought by South Africa alleging that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza — are significant. They have put a microscope on the full extent of Israel’s illegal practices in the occupied territory at a time when the war triggered by Hamas’s horrific October 7 attack has put renewed focus on the need for a two-state solution.
但是，国际法院这些调查结果的意义是重大的。国际法院还在审理另一起由南非提起的案件，指控以色列在加沙犯下种族灭绝罪。在哈马斯10月7日发动的恐怖袭击引发的战争使人们重新关注两国解决方案的必要性之际，国际法院的调查对以色列在被占领土上的非法行径进行了全面而详细地审视。
US President Joe Biden will no doubt raise the issue of a path to Palestinian statehood if, as expected, he meets Netanyahu in Washington this week. He will probably push for a ceasefire in Gaza and reinforce Washington’s insistence that Israeli troops withdraw from the strip when the war ends. But the more permanent and expansive Israel’s West Bank settlements become, the harder it will be for the establishment of a viable Palestinian state. The ICJ’s opinion states that Israel’s policies breach its “obligation” to respect Palestinian rights to self-determination.
如果美国总统乔•拜登(Joe Biden)本周如预期在华盛顿会见内塔尼亚胡，他无疑会提出巴勒斯坦建国之路的问题。他可能会推动加沙停火，并加强华盛顿的坚持，即以色列军队在战争结束后撤出加沙地带。但是，以色列在约旦河西岸的定居点越是永久性和扩张性，建立一个可行的巴勒斯坦国就越困难。国际法院的意见指出，以色列的政策违反了其尊重巴勒斯坦自决权的“义务”。
None of this should come as a shock. The UK, EU and much of the rest of the world long deemed Israeli settlements illegal, while the US considers them illegitimate. Yet the west has treated Israel with kid gloves, essentially giving it a free pass as it violates international law. Goods flow freely between the settlements and the west. When Israel unveils a new burst of construction in the West Bank, governments at best issue stock statements of condemnation. There was barely a peep in June when Israel announced the biggest seizure of Palestinian land since the 1990s.
这一切都不应令人震惊。英国、欧盟和世界其他大部分国家长期以来一直认为以色列定居点是非法的，而美国则认为它们是不合法的。然而，西方却一直对以色列小心翼翼，基本上是在以色列违反国际法时给了它一张免费通行证。商品在定居点和西方之间自由流通。当以色列在约旦河西岸大兴土木时，各国政府顶多发表声明予以谴责。今年6月，当以色列宣布自20世纪90年代以来最大规模的没收巴勒斯坦土地行动时，各国政府几乎没有发出任何声音。
Such inaction feeds perceptions of western hypocrisy and undermines the notion of a just, rules-based international order. That sentiment has been exacerbated by the west’s failure to rein in Israel’s devastating offensive in Gaza.
这种不作为助长了人们对西方虚伪的看法，并破坏了公正、基于规则的国际秩序的理念。西方未能遏制以色列在加沙的毁灭性进攻，加剧了这种情绪。
The US and its allies are pressuring Israel and Hamas to agree to end the war and a return of Israeli hostages taken during the October 7 attack. But as long as Israel is able to deepen its creeping annexation at no cost, the prospect of a durable negotiated settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis will remain a pipe dream. The ICJ’s ruling must force a re-calibration of the west’s policies towards Israel’s violations of international law in occupied territory. In its wake, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the gap between the law and what happens on the ground has never been so insurmountable, all “under the watchful eye of a powerless international community”. It need not be that way.
美国及其盟国正在向以色列和哈马斯施压，要求双方同意结束战争，并归还在10月7日袭击中被劫持的以色列人质。但是，只要以色列能够不付出任何代价地加深其蚕食行为，那么通过谈判持久地解决巴以危机的前景仍将是一个白日梦。国际法院的裁决必须迫使西方重新调整针对以色列在被占领土上违反国际法的政策。随后，欧盟外交政策负责人何塞普•博雷利表示，法律与实际情况之间的差距从未如此难以逾越，而这一切都是“在无能为力的国际社会的注视之下”。事情不需如此。