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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.
如果說以色列對巴勒斯坦領土長達數十年佔領的非法性還存在任何模糊不清之處的話，那麼它們應該被世界最高法庭的一項具有里程碑意義的裁決所消除。在上週公佈的一份長達83頁的詳細諮詢意見中，國際法院對以色列自1967年以來在其控制的巴勒斯坦領土上的活動進行了調查。結果令人震驚。
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”.
聯合國法院認定，以色列在該領土上的幾乎所有行動都違反了國際法。在約旦河西岸和東耶路撒冷的定居點居住著約70萬以色列猶太人。巴勒斯坦人的自由行動遭到限制。巴勒斯坦人被迫流離失所，房屋被拆毀。委員會得出結論，以色列的做法等同於吞併了大部分被佔領土，並補充說，這些做法旨在「在當地造成不可逆轉的影響」。以色列的存在是「非法的」，它有義務「儘快」結束這種存在。
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.
該意見不具約束力，也不會改變本雅明•內塔尼亞胡總理的極右翼政府的行爲，該政府內的極端民族主義定居者主張吞併約旦河西岸。事實上，在內塔尼亞胡的領導下，定居點建設已經加速，因爲他一直吹噓要挫敗巴勒斯坦人的建國野心。以色列還曾無視聯合國決議和國際法庭對其行動的批評，而其西方盟友默許了這種行爲。
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，國際法院這些調查結果的意義是重大的。國際法院還在審理另一起由南非提起的案件，指控以色列在加沙犯下種族滅絕罪。在哈馬斯10月7日發動的恐怖襲擊引發的戰爭使人們重新關注兩國解決方案的必要性之際，國際法院的調查對以色列在被佔領土上的非法行徑進行了全面而詳細地審視。
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.
如果美國總統喬•拜登(Joe Biden)本週如預期在華盛頓會見內塔尼亞胡，他無疑會提出巴勒斯坦建國之路的問題。他可能會推動加沙停火，並加強華盛頓的堅持，即以色列軍隊在戰爭結束後撤出加沙地帶。但是，以色列在約旦河西岸的定居點越是永久性和擴張性，建立一個可行的巴勒斯坦國就越困難。國際法院的意見指出，以色列的政策違反了其尊重巴勒斯坦自決權的「義務」。
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.
這一切都不應令人震驚。英國、歐盟和世界其他大部分國家長期以來一直認爲以色列定居點是非法的，而美國則認爲它們是不合法的。然而，西方卻一直對以色列小心翼翼，基本上是在以色列違反國際法時給了它一張免費通行證。商品在定居點和西方之間自由流通。當以色列在約旦河西岸大興土木時，各國政府頂多發表聲明予以譴責。今年6月，當以色列宣佈自20世紀90年代以來最大規模的沒收巴勒斯坦土地行動時，各國政府幾乎沒有發出任何聲音。
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.
這種不作爲助長了人們對西方虛僞的看法，並破壞了公正、基於規則的國際秩序的理念。西方未能遏制以色列在加沙的毀滅性進攻，加劇了這種情緒。
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.
美國及其盟國正在向以色列和哈馬斯施壓，要求雙方同意結束戰爭，並歸還在10月7日襲擊中被劫持的以色列人質。但是，只要以色列能夠不付出任何代價地加深其蠶食行爲，那麼透過談判持久地解決巴以危機的前景仍將是一個白日夢。國際法院的裁決必須迫使西方重新調整針對以色列在被佔領土上違反國際法的政策。隨後，歐盟外交政策負責人何塞普•博雷利表示，法律與實際情況之間的差距從未如此難以逾越，而這一切都是「在無能爲力的國際社會的注視之下」。事情不需如此。