\n\tNEW YORK: UN human rights experts on Wednesday condemned the recent approval by the Israeli government of plans to build several thousand new housing units in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, reiterating that settlements are \u201ca presumptive war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and should be treated as such by the international community.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tIsraeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory are a \u201cflagrant violation under international law (and the) illegality (is) one of the most widely-accepted issues in modern international law,\u201d the experts said.<\/p>\n
\n\tIn the first move of its kind since Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett came to power in June, the Israeli government advanced plans last week to build more than 3,000 new settlement units, most of them deep inside the occupied West Bank.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThe very raison d\u2019\u00eatre of the Israeli settlements in occupied territory \u2014 the creation of demographic facts on the ground to solidify a permanent presence, a consolidation of alien political control and an unlawful claim of sovereignty \u2014 tramples upon the fundamental precepts of humanitarian and human rights law,\u201d the experts said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tMichael Lynk, special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory since 1967, and Balakrishnan Rajagopal, of the US and special rapporteur on adequate housing, were among the experts.<\/p>\n
\n\tNew expansion plans are also being advanced for an estimated 15,000 housing units spread across various settlements in East Jerusalem.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tThe experts said there are now approximately 700,000 Israeli settlers living in illegal settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, adding that such settlements form the \u201cengine of the occupation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201c(Settlements) are responsible for a wide range of human rights violations against the Palestinians, including land confiscation, resource alienation, severe restrictions on freedom of movement, mounting settler violence, and racial and ethnic discrimination,\u201d the experts said.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cMost seriously, the purpose of settler implantation \u2014 rupturing the relationship between a native people and its territory \u2014 is the denial of the right to self-determination, which is at the very core of modern human rights law.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tWhile welcoming international criticism of Israeli expansion plans, including by the US and EU, the experts warned against ongoing impunity for Israel.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cCriticism without consequences means little in these circumstances,\u201d they said. \u201cIsrael has paid a minuscule cost over the past five decades for building its 300 settlements and defying international law.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe experts urged the international community to back the ongoing investigation into Israeli settlements by the International Criminal Court.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cAn occupying power that initiates and expands civilian settlements in defiance of international law and the Rome Statute cannot be serious about peace,\u201d the experts said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cEqually, an international community that does not impose accountability measures on a defiant occupying power contrary to international law cannot be serious about its own laws.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Israel settlement expansion should be treated as presumptive war crime: UN experts NEW YORK: UN human rights experts on Wednesday condemned the recent approval by the Israeli government of plans to build several thousand new housing units in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, reiterating that settlements are \u201ca presumptive war crime under the Rome…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spotlight_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46807\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}