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Netanyahu Blasts ‘Absurd’ UN Court Ruling on Israeli Settlements: ‘Jews Can’t Be Occupiers in Own Land’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a ceremony marking Memorial Day for fallen soldiers of Israel’s wars and victims of attacks, at Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl military cemetery, May 13, 2024. Photo: Gil Cohen-Magen/Pool via REUTERS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lambasted the top UN court for saying on Friday that Israel’s presence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including its establishment of settlements in the territories, is illegal and violates international law.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) detailed its ruling in an advisory opinion, which is not legally binding.
“Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the regime associated with them, have been established and are being maintained in violation of international law,” President Nawaf Salam said while reading the findings of the 15-judge panel.
The ICJ urged Israel to evacuate settlements in the West Bank, pay reparations to Palestinians displaced by settlements, and stop the construction of new settlements. The court argued that Israel’s “occupation” has trampled on Palestinian “self-determination” and therefore must end.
Netanyahu rebuked the court’s opinion, arguing that Jews have a right to inhabit their historical homeland of Judea and Samaria in the West Bank.
“The Jewish people are not occupiers in their own land, including in our eternal capital Jerusalem nor in Judea and Samaria, our historical homeland,” Netanyahu wrote on X/Twitter. “No absurd opinion in the Hague can deny this historical truth or the legal right of Israelis to live in their own communities in our ancestral home.”
While Netanyahu has long been a proponent of a Jewish presence in the West Bank, settlement construction intensified after the formation of the current right-wing Israeli government in 2022. Critics argue that the erection of West Bank settlements undermine the possibility of a Palestinian state. However, many proponents of settlements assert that Jews have a right to live in the Biblical lands of Judea and Samaria.
Israel has also ramped up construction of settlements in the months following Hamas’ Oct. 7 slaughter of over 1,200 people throughout southern Israel. In February, Israel approved plans to build over 3,300 new homes in the West Bank as a response to a fatal Palestinian shooting attack. Earlier this month, Israel reportedly approved 5,295 new housing units in the West Bank.
The ICJ case was set off by a December 2022 UN General Assembly resolution.
Opponents of Israel have been increasingly using the ICJ to pursue legal cases against the Jewish state. South Africa, for example, has accused Israel of committing “state-led genocide” in its defensive war against Hamas in Gaza. Israeli officials have strongly condemned the ICJ proceedings, noting that the Jewish state is targeting terrorists who use civilians as human shields in its military campaign.
Oren Marmorstein, spokesperson for Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the Jewish state “rejects” the ICJ’s “one-sided” opinion issued on Friday.
“The opinion is completely detached from the reality of the Middle East: while Hamas, Iran, and other terrorist elements are attacking Israel from seven fronts — including from Gaza and Judea & Samaria — with the aim of obliterating it, and in the aftermath of the greatest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, the opinion ignores the atrocities that took place on October 7, as well as the security imperative of Israel to defend its territory and its citizens,” Marmorstein wrote.
Marmorstein added that the ICJ opinion “distances the possibility” of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and that the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-governance in the West Bank, “is not interested in peace.”
“It should be emphasized that the opinion is blatantly one-sided. It ignores the past: the historical rights of the State of Israel and the Jewish people in the Land of Israel,” he said. “It is detached from the present: from the reality on the ground and the agreements between the parties. And it is dangerous for the future: it distances the parties from the only possible solution, which is direct negotiations.”
US Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) argued that negotiations for a potential Palestinian state should commence after the conclusion of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
“Today’s ruling by the so-called ‘International Court of Justice’ reaffirms that the UN discriminates against Israel. They have consistently denied Israel’s legitimate security needs and the right to defend her people,” Wasserman Schultz wrote.
“The discussion about the borders of a future Palestinian state should be part of a two-state solution negotiated by Israelis and Palestinians. However, no path forward exists until Hamas releases the hostages and lays down its arms, so that Israelis can live in a safe and secure environment free from another terrorist threat from Hamas,” Wasserman Schultz added.
The post Netanyahu Blasts ‘Absurd’ UN Court Ruling on Israeli Settlements: ‘Jews Can’t Be Occupiers in Own Land’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Rubio Heads to Israel Amid Tensions Among US Middle East Allies
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to members of the media, before departing for Israel at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, US, September 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Nathan Howard/Pool
US President Donald Trump’s top diplomat, Marco Rubio headed to Israel on Saturday, amid tensions with fellow US allies in the Middle East over Israel’s strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar and expansion of settlements in the West Bank.
Speaking to reporters before departure, Rubio reiterated that the US and President Donald Trump were not happy about the strikes.
Rubio said the US relationship with Israel would not be affected, but that he would discuss with the Israelis how the strike would affect Trump’s desire to secure the return of all the hostages held by Hamas, get rid of the terrorists and end the Gaza war.
“What’s happened, has happened,” he said. “We’re gonna meet with them. We’re gonna talk about what the future holds,” he said.
“There are still 48 hostages that deserve to be released immediately, all at once. And there is still the hard work ahead once this ends, of rebuilding Gaza in a way that provides people the quality of life that they all want.”
Rubio said it had yet to be determined who would do that, who would pay for it and who would be in charge of the process.
After Israel, Rubio is due to join Trump’s planned visit to Britain next week.
Hamas still holds 48 hostages, and Qatar has been one of the mediators, along with the US, trying to secure a ceasefire deal that would include the captives’ release.
On Tuesday, Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an airstrike on Doha. US officials described it as a unilateral escalation that did not serve American or Israeli interests.
The strike on the territory of a close US ally sparked broad condemnation from other Arab states and derailed ceasefire and hostage talks brokered by Qatar.
On Friday, Rubio met with Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani at the White House, underscoring competing interests in the region that Rubio will seek to balance on his trip. Later that day, US President Donald Trump held dinner with the prime minister in New York.
Rubio’s trip comes ahead of high-level meetings at the United Nations in New York later this month. Countries including France and Britain are expected to recognize Palestinian statehood, a move opposed by Israel.
Washington says such recognition would bolster Hamas and Rubio has suggested the move could spur the annexation of the West Bank sought by hardline members of the Israeli government.
ON Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed an agreement to push ahead with a settlement expansion plan that would cut across West Bank land that the Palestinians seek for a state. Last week, the United Arab Emirates warned that this would cross a red line and undermine the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords that normalized UAE-Israel relations in 2020.
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Netanyahu Posts Message Appearing to Confirm Hamas Leaders Survived Doha Strike
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – In a statement posted to social media on Saturday evening, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the Qatar-based leadership of Hamas, reiterating that the jihadist group had to regard for the lives of Gazans and represented an obstacle to ending the war and releasing the Israelis it held hostage.
The wording of Netanyahu’s message appeared to confirm that the strike targeting the Hamas leaders in Doha was not crowned with success.
“The Hamas terrorists chiefs living in Qatar don’t care about the people in Gaza,” wrote Netanyahu. “They blocked all ceasefire attempts in order to endlessly drag out the war.” He added that “Getting rid of them would rid the main obstacle to releasing all our hostages and ending the war.”
Israel is yet to officially comment on the result of the strike, which has incurred widespread international criticism.
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Trump Hosts Qatari Prime Minister After Israeli Attack in Doha
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani attends an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, Sept. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
US President Donald Trump held dinner with the Qatari prime minister in New York on Friday, days after US ally Israel attacked Hamas leaders in Doha.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an attack in Qatar on Tuesday, a strike that risked derailing US-backed efforts to broker a truce in Gaza and end the nearly two-year-old conflict. The attack was widely condemned in the Middle East and beyond as an act that could escalate tensions in a region already on edge.
Trump expressed annoyance about the strike in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and sought to assure the Qataris that such attacks would not happen again.
Trump and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani were joined by a top Trump adviser, US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
“Great dinner with POTUS. Just ended,” Qatar’s deputy chief of mission, Hamah Al-Muftah, said on X.
The White House confirmed the dinner had taken place but offered no details.
The session followed an hour-long meeting that al-Thani had at the White House on Friday with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
A source briefed on the meeting said they discussed Qatar’s future as a mediator in the region and defense cooperation in the wake of the Israeli strikes against Hamas in Doha.
Trump said he was unhappy with Israel’s strike, which he described as a unilateral action that did not advance US or Israeli interests.
Washington counts Qatar as a strong Gulf ally. Qatar has been a main mediator in long-running negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and for a post-conflict plan for the territory.
Al-Thani blamed Israel on Tuesday for trying to sabotage chances for peace but said Qatar would not be deterred from its role as mediator.