A Palestinian family stands in front of their home, which was burned in a settler attack, south of Hebron in the West Bank. UN human rights chief warns against expanding Israeli control over Palestinian lands International Law
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Wednesday called on Israel to reverse recent measures aimed at expanding control over Palestinian territories in the occupied West Bank.
“This is another step by the Israeli authorities to make the creation of a viable Palestinian state impossible, which violates the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination,” he said.
If implemented, these decisions, Turk said, “will undoubtedly accelerate the dispossession of Palestinians and their forced displacement, and will also lead to the creation of new illegal Israeli settlements.”
This in turn would “further deprive Palestinians of their natural resources and limit their enjoyment of other human rights.”
Expanding control over land
On February 8, the Israeli Security Cabinet approved a package of measures that provides for the expansion of Israeli civilian powers in Zones A and B of the West Bank, which make up about 40 percent of the territory. administration.
The new measures include a change in legislation that will allow Israeli authorities and individuals to acquire land in Areas A and B, which violates the rules of the law of occupation.
“This will further strengthen Israeli control and the integration of the occupied West Bank into Israel, consolidating the illegal annexation,” he stressed. Turk.
Violation of cultural rights
The decisions also strip the Palestinian Authority of planning and construction authority in parts of Hebron in the southern West Bank, including the Ibrahimi Mosque – known in Judaism as the “Cave of the Patriarchs” and a holy site for followers of Islam, Judaism and Christianity. Rachel in Bethlehem – to accelerate settlement expansion.
“This violates not only the land rights of Palestinians, but also their cultural rights in places of special significance,” said the High Commissioner.
“There must be solutions canceled”
Turk noted that the new steps are being taken against the backdrop of a larger picture – increasing attacks by Israeli settlers and security forces on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, as well as forced displacements, evictions, home demolitions, land grabs and restrictions on freedom of movement, among other documented violations.
“We are witnessing rapid steps to irreversibly change the demographics of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, dispossess its people of their land and force their exodus,” he said.
“This is accompanied by the rhetoric and actions of senior Israeli officials and violates Israel’s obligations as the occupying power to maintain the existing legal order and social fabric. These decisions must be reversed,” Turk added.
The High Commissioner called for the evacuation of all settlements and for an immediate end to the Israeli occupation.