Fact-Check: Did ICJ Declare Israel an ‘Illegal State’? No, Claim Is False!

The ICJ declared Israeli occupation as unlawful but did not term Israel as an 'illegal state.'

A video of Palestine's Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki speaking to the media is circulating online with the statement that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared Israel as an 'illegal state.'

(Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

Is this true?: No, the claim is false.

• This video is from July. The ICJ declared Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories as unlawful, but, did not name the former as an 'illegal state.'

What we found: We undertook a relevant keyword search using the words in the viral clip. We found the clip on TRT World's YouTube channel from 19 July.

• We heard the entire clip and found that Al-Maliki was specifically addressing Israel's presence in Palestine and its construction of settlements in Palestinian regions and how the ICJ has found it to be 'unlawful.'

• He said, "Israel's occupation has been declared unlawful by the world court which has stipulated that it must be terminated completely, and as rapidly as possible. The court also found that illegal Israeli occupation violates the UN Charter of Human Rights and international humanitarian law. The court further unequivocally declared that all Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory are illegal and must be dismantled and that all Israeli settlers must be evacuated."

• Al Jazeera also posted a clip of the press briefing on their Facebook page in July, as well.

• We also came across multiple news reports about this ICJ ruling. The BBC also noted that Israel has established an "unlawful presence" in Palestinian territories.

• None of the reports state that the ICJ called Israel an 'illegal state.'

Conclusion: Social media posts have falsely claimed that the ICJ ruled that Israel was an illegal state.

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