Occupation

Under international law (Fourth Geneva Convention; UN Security Council Resolutions 242, 338, and 2334), Israel's control of the West Bank — seized during the 1967 Six-Day War — constitutes a military occupation. The International Court of Justice issued advisory opinions in 2004 and again in July 2024 affirming this characterization and ruling the occupation unlawful. Most international bodies, including the UN, EU, and International Criminal Court, apply this framework. Gaza is also considered occupied by most international bodies despite Israel's 2005 withdrawal, on the basis that Israel controls its airspace, maritime access, and movement of goods and people.

Israel disputes the legal characterization of the West Bank as "occupied," preferring "disputed territories," arguing that the land was not part of any sovereign state when Israel took control in 1967 (it was Jordanian-administered following Jordan's annexation, which most states did not recognize). Israeli legal scholars argue that the Fourth Geneva Convention applies only to territories of a prior sovereign, which Jordan was not. Israel maintains that its 2005 withdrawal from Gaza ended any occupation; border controls exist to prevent weapons smuggling to Hamas, not to occupy the population.

The occupation is described as a decades-long system of dispossession, land confiscation, settlement expansion, movement restrictions, and military control over Palestinian civilian life — not merely a legal status but a lived reality of subjugation. Proponents argue that the occupation is the root cause of the conflict and that resistance to it, including armed resistance, is legitimate under international law.