Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories amount to ‘war crime’: UN
- The UN said Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories expanded by a record amount and risk eliminating any practical possibly of a Palestinian state
- Israel, which captured the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war, claims a biblical birthright to the land where settlements are expanding
Expanding Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories constitutes “a war crime” and risks eliminating “any practical possibility” of a viable Palestinian state, the United Nations rights chief warned on Friday.
Volker Turk said there had been a drastic acceleration in Israel’s illegal settlement building in the occupied West Bank, at the same time as it wages a relentless war in the Palestinian territory of Gaza.
The UN high commissioner for human rights said creating and expanding settlements amounted to the transfer by Israel of its own civilian population into occupied territories.
Such transfers amount to a war crime that may engage the individual criminal responsibility of those involved
“Such transfers amount to a war crime that may engage the individual criminal responsibility of those involved,” he said in a report to the UN Human Rights Council.
Reported Israeli plans to build another 3,476 settler homes in the West Bank colonies of Maale Adumim, Efrat and Kedar flew “in the face of international law”, he said.
Israel seized the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, and claims a biblical birthright to the land where settlements are expanding.
It is illegal under international law for Israel to establish settlements in these Palestinian territories.