International law rulings on Israel’s occupation place clear obligations on all states, yet Australia continues to back US and Israeli military action in Iran.

We are in the middle of what is called ‘the Iran War’. The Australian people, led by their politicians and press, consider themselves to be on the side of the western world – in this instance, that is the US and Israel – and that side is the right side to be on. Are the Australian people wrong in so considering?

Let us consider some historical international instruments. We could go back to 1948 but for the purposes of this article, we can start with Security Council Resolution (SCR) 2334.

SCR 2334 was adopted by the Security Council on 23 December 2016. The resolution passed 14-0 with one abstention, that of the US. The vote was taken in the last month of the Obama administration. The resolution asserted the illegality of all settlement activity in the territory occupied by Israel in 1967 and demanded the immediate cessation of such activity. The Council stressed that such cessation was essential for salvaging the two-State solution. The reference in the Resolution to “occupied Palestinian territory” included Gaza. Israel immediately announced that it would not comply with its terms.

We can move forward to 19 July 2024 and the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), made up........

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