Following the advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice, B'Tselem called on the international community to assume its responsibility and force Israel to end its occupation of the Palestinian territories. The organization stressed that after 57 years of Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Israel has shown no intention of ending this occupation, but is instead working to entrench it and annex the lands through official and unofficial means. B'Tselem described the military occupation as part of Israel's apartheid regime. The organization pointed out that the international community has evaded its responsibility to protect the Palestinians under various pretexts, including considering the occupation temporary and negotiating a diplomatic solution to the conflict. B'Tselem stressed that the ICJ advisory opinion puts an end to these justifications, and that the international community must now use all available tools - whether legal, diplomatic or economic - to force Isra el to end the occupation. Source: Maan News Agency