Rhino: Agencies – The United States has criticized the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) opinion that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal, saying it will complicate efforts to resolve the conflict.

‘We have made it clear that the Israeli government’s program to support settlements is contrary to international law and impedes the cause of peace,’ a State Department spokesperson said on Saturday in an email.

‘However, we are concerned that the breadth of the Court’s opinion will complicate efforts to resolve the conflict and achieve the much-needed just and lasting peace of two states living side by side in peace and security.

In its strongest opinion to date on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the court said on Friday that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land and the settlements built on it are illegal and must end as soon as possible.

The US State Department said the court’s view that Israel should withdraw from Palestinian territory as soon as possible ‘conflicts with the existing framework’ for resolving the conflict.

That framework, Washington said, takes into account Israel’s security needs, which it says were highlighted by the attacks carried out by the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on Israel on 7 October.