Palestinian Territory Occupied: Financial Crime Defined in Israeli Settlement Policy
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL - The decades-long settlement policy in the occupied West Bank has been confirmed by experts as illegal and a war crime. It is imperative that the United States government takes immediate action to uphold human rights and international law.
Illegal Settlements: A Violation of International Humanitarian Law
Despite historical recognition of Israeli settlements as illegal, the US government has recently employed ambiguous language, characterizing settlement construction as “unhelpful” or “illegitimate.” This equivocation fails to address the issue and perpetuates a cycle of violence, further violating international humanitarian and human rights law.
The Occupied West Bank: A Territory Under Israeli Control
The occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip remain under effective Israeli control. International humanitarian law (IHL) outlines specific obligations for occupying powers, including the prohibition on:
- Transferring their own civilians into occupied territory
- Forcibly transferring protected persons from or within an occupied territory
Israeli Settlements: A Violation of International Law
In Israel, settlements are considered legal if authorized by the government, while smaller outposts are deemed illegal. However, international law makes no such distinctions; all Israeli settlements in the West Bank violate the Fourth Geneva Convention.
United Nations Fact-Finding Mission Condemns Settlements
The United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on Israeli Settlements has repeatedly condemned these violations, finding that they perpetuate a range of human rights abuses against Palestinians, including:
- Discriminatory policies based on nationality
- Ethnicity
- Religion
The mission chair, Christine Chanet, emphasized that Israel must cease all settlement activities immediately, as required by Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
US Government Action Required
For the US government to genuinely facilitate a just and sustainable peace in the region, it is imperative that they demand Israel:
- Halt all construction of settlements
- Related infrastructure
- Remove settlers from occupied territory
Failure to do so will only perpetuate the cycle of violence and human rights violations.