UN official says Israel 'consolidating unlawful annexation' of West Bank
The UN human rights chief said on Wednesday that Israel’s expansion of its civilian control in the occupied West Bank would entrench the territory’s integration into Israel and amount to unlawful annexation.
Volker Turk, the UN's high commissioner for human rights, warned the move was the latest Israeli step that would render a viable Palestinian state impossible.
“If these decisions are implemented, they will undoubtedly accelerate the dispossession of Palestinians and their forcible transfer, and lead to the creation of more illegal Israeli settlements," Turk said.
"This will also further deprive Palestinians of their natural resources and restrict their enjoyment of other human rights.”
The sweeping changes announced on Sunday would expand Israel's civil control in Areas A and B of the West Bank - where all major Palestinian cities and towns are located.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
This equates to around 40 percent of the occupied territory, which has been officially under Palestinian Authority (PA) jurisdiction since the Oslo Accords of 1993.
The new measures also make it easier for Jewish Israelis to privately own land in the West Bank, potentially accelerating settlement expansion.
“We are witnessing rapid steps to change permanently the demography of the occupied Palestinian territory, stripping its people of their lands and forcing them to leave,” Turk said.
The new measures also transfer certain administrative powers from Palestinians to Israel in Hebron, including over the Ibrahimi Mosque, as well as at Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem.
Turk said this violates Palestinians' cultural rights in these sites.
He added that the decision on Sunday comes amid a wider context of increasing Israeli violence, forcible displacement, home demolitions, movement restrictions and land grabs.
Rhetoric and actions promoting Palestinian subjugation are supported by senior Israeli officials, he added, which "violates Israel’s obligation as an occupying power to preserve the existing legal order and social fabric".
"These decisions must be overturned," he said. "The settlements must be evacuated. The occupation must end. Now."
Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.
