Beit Sourik Village Council v. Israel
Supreme Court of Israel as the High Court of Justice
HCJ 2056/04 (2004)
Israel (defendant) began building a lengthy Separation Fence through the West Bank, with the Israeli Defense Force ordering the seizure of land parcels in Judea and Samaria to construct it. Some sections of the fence followed a 1949 armistice line, but others reached deep into the West Bank, cutting local Palestinian farmers off from their agricultural lands. Local Palestinian residents (plaintiffs) challenged a 25-mile stretch of the fence's orders as an illegal taking of their land; Israel defended the fence as a necessary security measure to stop Palestinian suicide bombers from reaching Israeli settlements.
Whether a military commander is authorized under international law to seize private land for military needs during belligerent occupation when the resulting harm to local civilians is disproportionate to the military benefit.