The UN human rights office on Friday condemned Israel’s plan to build thousands of new homes between a West Bank settlement and East Jerusalem, calling it illegal under international law and warning it could lead to the forced eviction of Palestinians — an act it described as a war crime.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced on Thursday that the long-delayed settlement project would move forward, declaring it would “bury” the idea of a Palestinian state.
A UN rights office spokesperson said the project would fragment the West Bank into isolated enclaves, stressing that “it is a war crime for an occupying power to transfer its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.”
Currently, about 700,000 Israeli settlers live among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Israel annexed East Jerusalem in 1980, a move not recognized internationally, but has not formally extended sovereignty over the West Bank.
Most world powers oppose settlement expansion, warning it undermines the two-state solution, which envisions an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem existing alongside Israel.
Israel, however, maintains that the West Bank is “disputed,” not “occupied,” citing historical and biblical ties as well as strategic and security considerations.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced on Thursday that the long-delayed settlement project would move forward, declaring it would “bury” the idea of a Palestinian state.
A UN rights office spokesperson said the project would fragment the West Bank into isolated enclaves, stressing that “it is a war crime for an occupying power to transfer its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.”
Currently, about 700,000 Israeli settlers live among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Israel annexed East Jerusalem in 1980, a move not recognized internationally, but has not formally extended sovereignty over the West Bank.
Most world powers oppose settlement expansion, warning it undermines the two-state solution, which envisions an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem existing alongside Israel.
Israel, however, maintains that the West Bank is “disputed,” not “occupied,” citing historical and biblical ties as well as strategic and security considerations.
