UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — U.K. govt. bans trade with illegal Israeli settlements in West Bank
Q1. With reference to the International Court of Justice's advisory opinion of 19 July 2024 on the policies and practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, consider the following propositions:
1. Israel is under an obligation to bring its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory to an end as rapidly as possible.
2. Israel is under an obligation to cease immediately all new settlement activities and to evacuate all settlers from the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
3. All States are under an obligation not to recognise as legal the situation arising from Israel's continued presence in the territory.
4. The opinion is binding on the parties in the same manner as a judgment delivered in a contentious case between States.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified as findings of the Court?
- Israel is under an obligation to bring its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory to an end as rapidly as possible.
- Israel is under an obligation to cease immediately all new settlement activities and to evacuate all settlers from the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
- All States are under an obligation not to recognise as legal the situation arising from Israel's continued presence in the territory.
- The opinion is binding on the parties in the same manner as a judgment delivered in a contentious case between States.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2, 3 and 4
- C. 1, 2 and 3
- D. 1 and 4 only
Q2. UN Security Council resolution 2334 (2016), which reaffirmed that Israeli settlements in territory occupied since 1967 have no legal validity, was adopted with how many affirmative votes?
- A. Twelve, with two members voting against and one abstaining
- B. Fifteen, the resolution having been adopted unanimously
- C. Fourteen, with one member abstaining and none voting against
- D. Thirteen, with two members abstaining and none voting against
Q3. Of the territories occupied by Israel in the June 1967 war — the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank including East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights — how many have subsequently been returned in full to the State from which they were taken?
- A. None of them, since every territory taken in 1967 remains under Israeli control to this day
- B. Two of them, both returned under peace treaties concluded with neighbouring Arab States
- C. One of them, returned under a peace treaty concluded with a neighbouring Arab State
- D. Three of them, all restored through the interim arrangements negotiated during the 1990s
Q4. Consider the following statements comparing the post-1967 status of the territories occupied by Israel in the Six-Day War:
1. The Sinai Peninsula was returned under a peace treaty, whereas the Gaza Strip and the West Bank were placed under Israeli military occupation.
2. Unlike the West Bank, both the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem were formally annexed by Israel.
3. The West Bank, including East Jerusalem, was taken from Egyptian forces during the fighting of June 1967.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- The Sinai Peninsula was returned under a peace treaty, whereas the Gaza Strip and the West Bank were placed under Israeli military occupation.
- Unlike the West Bank, both the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem were formally annexed by Israel.
- The West Bank, including East Jerusalem, was taken from Egyptian forces during the fighting of June 1967.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2 and 3 only
- C. 1 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q5. At the Security Council's August 2026 meeting on the West Bank, the United Kingdom cited the number of settlements approved by Israeli authorities over the preceding four years — an increase of about 80 per cent — as how many?
- A. Thirty-four settlements, for which about $431 million had been allocated
- B. One hundred and four settlements approved over the four-year period
- C. Seventy-six settlements approved across the occupied West Bank
- D. About twelve thousand settlements and associated housing schemes
Q6. A United Kingdom ban on the import of goods originating in illegal Israeli settlements would fall to be operationalised primarily by which one of the following?
- A. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, which conducts the United Kingdom's diplomatic relations
- B. His Majesty's Treasury, through its Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation
- C. The Department for Business and Trade, which is responsible for the United Kingdom's import and trade policy
- D. His Majesty's Revenue and Customs, which collects duties and taxes at the border
Q7. In the context of the Israeli-Palestinian question, the term 'Green Line' refers to which one of the following?
- A. The boundary drawn between the proposed Arab and Jewish States under the 1947 United Nations partition plan
- B. The pre-1967 armistice line, changes to which the Security Council has said it will not recognise except as agreed by the two sides
- C. The route of the separation barrier constructed by Israel in and around the West Bank since 2002
- D. The line dividing Area C from Areas A and B under the interim self-government arrangements of the 1990s
Q8. Which one of the following United Nations entities regularly briefs the Security Council on developments in the occupied Palestinian territory and on the implementation of resolution 2334 (2016)?
- A. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
- B. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, through its country office
- C. The United Nations Truce Supervision Organization, the oldest peacekeeping operation in the region
- D. The Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process
Q9. Consider the following States:
1. Canada
2. Australia
3. Portugal
4. Hungary
Which of the above is/are correctly identified as having recognised the State of Palestine in September 2025?
- Canada
- Australia
- Portugal
- Hungary
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2, 3 and 4
- C. 1 and 4 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q10. The following States are listed as having voted against the 2025 United Nations General Assembly resolution endorsing the New York Declaration on the two-State solution:
1. Argentina
2. Paraguay
3. Belgium
4. Papua New Guinea
Which of the above is/are NOT correctly listed?
- Argentina
- Paraguay
- Belgium
- Papua New Guinea
- A. 1 only
- B. 2 and 4 only
- C. 3 only
- D. 3 and 4 only
Q11. The Declaration of Principles signed in 1993 between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization provided for Palestinian self-rule to be administered by which one of the following bodies?
- A. The Palestine Liberation Organization, acting through its Executive Committee
- B. The Palestinian National Council, functioning as the representative assembly in exile
- C. The Palestinian Authority, set up as an interim self-governing body
- D. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, acting under a General Assembly mandate
Q12. India's declared position on the Question of Palestine, as stated by the Ministry of External Affairs, is support for which one of the following outcomes?
- A. A single binational State in which Israelis and Palestinians share equal citizenship and constitutional guarantees
- B. A sovereign, independent, viable and united State of Palestine within secure and recognised borders, at peace beside Israel
- C. An internationally supervised trusteeship over the disputed territories pending a final negotiated settlement
- D. A Palestinian State confined to the Gaza Strip, with Jerusalem placed under a permanent international administration