Israel has adamantly denied apartheid accusations, saying its Arab minority enjoys full civil rights, while most Palestinians, who live outside Israel’s sovereign territory, are subject to Palestinian Authority rule under the Oslo Accords.

It also bristles at the term “occupation” to describe its activities in the West Bank and Gaza. It views Gaza, from which it withdrew soldiers and settlers in 2005, as a hostile entity ruled by the Islamic terror group Hamas, and it considers the West Bank to be disputed territory subject to peace negotiations — which collapsed nearly a decade ago.