New legal opinion by Professor Ralph Wilde

Legal opinion by Professor Ralph Wilde on Israel’s violations of international law concerning the environment in the illegally occupied Palestinian territory (the Gaza Strip and West Bank, including East Jerusalem)

Ralph Wilde, Professor of International Law at University College, University of London, and Visiting Professor, Yale Law School, has launched a major new legal opinion on Israel’s violations of international law concerning the environment in the illegally occupied Palestinian territory (the Gaza Strip and West Bank, including East Jerusalem) (OPT). He was commissioned to write the report by a leading international NGO.  

The opinion catalogues the widespread and severe environmental harm in the OPT; clarifies what the governing rules of international law are on this subject; and explains how these rules can and should be applied to the situation. It argues that because Israel’s very presence in the OPT is, in and of itself, illegal, as a violation of the international law on the use of force, and the law of self-determination, there is, ultimately, no legal justification for any of the environmental harm it has perpetrated there, and all such harm has, in consequence, been illegal, irrespective of any considerations relating to security, and cannot, therefore, be ‘security-washed’.  

For the same reason, Israel’s alterations in the environment ostensibly pursuant to environmental safeguarding reasons (e.g. the creation of national parks) have been illegal in consequence of being conducted as part of an illegal presence, and cannot, therefore, be ‘green-washed’.  

The opinion explains what Israel needs to do to end these violations of international law, including, fundamentally, immediately terminating its illegal presence in the OPT; the rights that the State of Palestine and the Palestinian people have, including remedies; and the special duties that all other States have, including to take positive action to end Israel’s violations, because of the fundamental character of the international legal rules being violated. It makes recommendations for action to States, international organizations and NGOs, from imposing sanctions to supporting and enhancing international remedies.