Israeli settlement expansion 'alarming', violates int'l law: UN office
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The UN Human Rights Office says the Israeli measures contravene a significant July ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
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The Israeli settlement Fasayil Efraim is seen in the background of the site of demolished tents and shacks of Palestinian bedouins on the outskirts of the West Bank town of Duma on Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP)
The "alarming" expansion of Israeli settlements and recent legal changes in the occupied West Bank disregard international law, the UN Human Rights Office affirmed on Monday.
"The UN Human Rights Office is alarmed by Israel’s recent and ongoing settlement expansion and legal changes in the occupied West Bank; measures which fly in the face of international law," it said.
In a press release, the UN body highlighted that the Israeli measures contravene a significant July ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
On July 19, an advisory opinion issued by the ICJ found that the Israeli occupation of al-Quds and the West Bank since 1967 is illegal and has resulted in settlement policies that breach international law.
"Israel" is "under the obligation to bring to an end its unlawful presence as rapidly as possible," the ICJ ruling read.
The court added that "Israel" was "under an obligation to cease immediately all new settlement activities and to evacuate all settlers" from occupied land.
It further emphasized that "Israel's" policies and practices, including the maintenance of a separation wall between the territories, "amount to annexation of large parts" of the occupied territory.
The UN Human Rights Office underlined on Monday that illegal settlements, settler violence, and the presence of settlers are the primary drivers of the majority of human rights abuses in the West Bank, including the eastern part of occupied al-Quds.
The UN statement comes a couple of days after a Palestinian youth was killed and another was critically injured during an attack by Israeli settlers on the village of Jit, east of Qalqilya, in the occupied West Bank.
Israeli settlers raided the village and set fire to several Palestinian homes and vehicles. According to local sources, Israeli occupation forces blocked Palestinian Civil Defense teams from reaching the burning homes and vehicles to extinguish the flames.
In a related context, the statement further stressed that newly announced settlement construction plans in Nahal Heletz, west of Beit Lahm, remain in violation of international law.
"In the case of Nahal Heletz, the building of a new settlement in this strategic area severely compromises the livelihoods, safety and movement of Palestinians living in five surrounding villages, while posing a significant threat to the contiguity and viability of a Palestinian state," it explained.
Last week, the Israeli occupation entity approved the new settlement on a UNESCO World Heritage Site near Beit Lahm.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich confirmed that his office had "completed its work and published a plan for the new Nahal Heletz settlement in Gush Etzion."
This settlement is one of five that the Israeli cabinet approved for "legalization" last June as a response to the growing international recognition of the Palestinian state.
"No anti-Israeli and anti-Zionist decision will stop the development of settlements," Smotrich, who lives in a settlement, posted on X.
"We will continue to fight against the dangerous project of creating a Palestinian state by creating facts on the ground."
The Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now denounced the plan, calling it a "wholesale attack" on an area "renowned for its ancient terraces and sophisticated irrigation systems, evidence of thousands of years of human activity."
Read more: 'Israel' cuts all ties with OHCHR, not issuing visas for employees
