Canceling settler detention orders enable crimes: Rights group

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites
24 Nov 2024 10:20

The decision to suspend the administrative detention for illegal settlers accused of attacking Palestinians in the West Bank is evidence of the occupation's "arrogance toward the international system and its structures."

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Israeli army investigators arrived at the site of the early morning attack of Israeli settlers, which left at least 18 burnt vehicles, on the outskirts of the West Bank city of al-Bireh on November 4, 2024. (AP)

A Palestinian rights organization said on Saturday that the Israeli decision to halt the issuance of administrative detention orders against illegal settlers accused of attacking Palestinians in the West Bank "puts them above any legal accountability."

Qadoura Fares, head of the Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, stated that the decision "is evidence of the extent of the occupation's audacity, its disregard, and its arrogance toward the international system and its structures."

Fares asserted that it "facilitates settlers in committing more crimes against Palestinians and removes some of the formal restrictions, of which administrative detention was part."

He emphasized that the decision by Security Minister Israel Katz "reflects Israeli racism, as it comes at a time when the occupying authorities are expanding the use of administrative detention against Palestinians, with around 3,500 Palestinians currently detained under this policy."

Fares demanded that the international community "break its deadly silence regarding the Palestinian people and their rights."

The Israeli Security Ministry announced Katz’s decision Friday to suspend administrative detention orders against illegal Israeli settlers.

Administrative detention, which is based on no evidence, has mainly been used against Palestinians. According to Palestinian prisoner advocacy groups, 3,443 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli prisons under this measure.

While official Israeli figures on illegal settlers held under administrative detention are unavailable, estimates suggest that only a small number have ever been detained under this law.

In recent months, several Western countries, including the US, the EU, and the UK, have imposed sanctions on settlers and settler organizations in the West Bank for crimes committed against Palestinians.

On that note, on November 19, the Biden administration imposed sanctions on three Israeli private companies involved in constructing settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

According to Axios, this move marks a significant expansion of US sanctions against illegal settlement activities. It is the first time sanctions have been placed on private construction firms that facilitate illegal settlement expansion.

That said, the Israeli settler lobby, along with the Netanyahu government, is now urging President-elect Trump to overturn President Biden’s executive order addressing settler violence and to lift all sanctions implemented over the past ten months.

Tensions in the West Bank have surged in response to "Israel's" genocide in the Gaza Strip, which has claimed more than 44,000 martyrs, mostly women and children. In parallel, nearly 795 Palestinians have since been martyred and more than 6,400 have been injured by Israeli occupation forces (IOF) in the occupied territory, according to the Health Ministry.

In July, the International Court of Justice delivered a landmark advisory opinion, declaring "Israel's" prolonged occupation of Palestinian territories "illegal" and calling for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and the eastern part of al-Quds.