A/HRC/34/38 including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip) has been continuously asserted in the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly, 8 in reports of the Secretary-General9 and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights 10 and by various human rights treaty bodies.11 8. As the International Court of Justice stated in 2004 that, because Israel exercises territorial jurisdiction over the Occupied Palestinian Territory as the occupying power, it is bound by human rights obligations in respect of the local population. 12 The International Court of Justice also observed that the obligations of Israel under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights included “an obligation not to raise any obstacle to the exercise of such rights in those fields where competence has been transferred to Palestinian authorities”.13 The accession of the State of Palestine to human rights treaties does not affect the obligations of Israel under human rights law within the Occupied Palestinian Territory. 14 9. The applicability of human rights law in a situation of armed conflict or occupation concurrently with international humanitarian law has been widely affirmed. The International Court of Justice first addressed that issue in 1996 and then reiterated the concurrent application of international humanitarian law and human rights law in its advisory opinion on the wall, including in respect of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. 15 A situation of armed conflict or occupation does not release a State from its human rights obligations.16 B. International humanitarian law 10. The Occupied Palestinian Territory is a territory under belligerent occupation to which international humanitarian law applies. Israel is bound by the obligations of an occupying power set out in the Convention respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land, the Fourth Geneva Convention and customary international law, 17 as confirmed by numerous international entities.18 International humanitarian law applies to the entirety of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in other words to Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. East Jerusalem remains an integral part of the West Bank and the Security Council has repeatedly affirmed the continued application of the Fourth Geneva Convention to East Jerusalem.19 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 See, e.g., General Assembly resolution 71/98. See A/69/348, para. 5, and A/HRC/28/44, para. 6. See, e.g., A/HRC/8/17, para. 7, and A/HRC/12/37, paras. 5-6. See Human Rights Committee general comment No. 31 (2004) on the nature of the general legal obligation imposed on States parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, para. 10. See also E/C.12/1/Add.90, para. 31, CCPR/C/ISR/CO/4, para. 5, CRC/C/ISR/CO/2-4, para. 3, CAT/C/ISR/CO/4, para. 11, and CERD/C/ISR/CO/14-16, para. 10. See Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall, paras. 110-113. Ibid., para. 112. See A/HRC/28/44, para. 6. See Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons, Advisory Opinion, I.C.J. Reports 1996, p. 226, para. 25, and Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall, para. 106. See A/HRC/12/37, para. 6. Although Israel is not a party to the Convention respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land, the rules contained therein are applicable as they are considered customary law. While Israel has disputed the de jure application of the law of occupation based on an interpretation of article 2 common to the Geneva Conventions (an interpretation that has been rejected by various international entities), it has nevertheless been applying selected provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention. See Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall, para. 101. See also Security Council resolutions 1860 (2009) and 2334 (2016), among others; General Assembly resolutions 62/181 and 63/98, among others; Human Rights Council resolution 10/18, among others; reports of the SecretaryGeneral A/HRC/12/37, para. 9, and A/HRC/8/17, para. 5, among others; and the declaration of 17 December 2014 adopted by the Conference of High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention. See Security Council resolutions 478 (1980) and 476 (1980) and General Assembly resolutions 70/88 and 71/96. 3