Beirut: The recent decisions by the Israeli security cabinet to expand land expropriation in the occupied West Bank are the latest in a series of measures to annex Palestinian lands in breach of the right to self-determination, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Trk said today.
According to National News Agency - Lebanon, the High Commissioner stated that the Israeli authorities' actions are making a viable Palestinian state impossible. The measures, if implemented, are expected to accelerate the dispossession of Palestinians and their forcible transfer, leading to more illegal Israeli settlements. This would further deprive Palestinians of natural resources and restrict their enjoyment of other human rights.
On 8 February, the Israeli security cabinet approved measures to expand Israeli civilian authority in areas A and B of the West Bank. These areas, according to the Oslo Accords, fall under the competence of the Palestinian Authority. The new measures would change the law to allow Israeli authorities and individuals to acquire land in these areas, violating the law of occupation.
The decisions also strip the Palestinian Authority of planning and building powers in parts of Hebron, including the Ibrahimi Mosque/Cave of the Patriarchs, and establish Israeli administrative control over Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem to accelerate settlement expansion. This not only affects the land rights of Palestinians but also their cultural rights regarding sites of significance.
These measures occur amid increasing attacks by Israeli settlers and security forces against Palestinians in the West Bank, forcible transfers, evictions, home demolitions, land grabs, and movement restrictions, as documented by UN Human Rights. The High Commissioner highlighted the rapid steps to change the demography of the occupied Palestinian territory, stripping people of their lands and forcing them to leave.
The High Commissioner emphasized that the rhetoric and actions by senior Israeli officials violate Israel's obligation as an occupying power to preserve the existing legal order and social fabric. The decisions must be overturned, settlements evacuated, and the occupation ended.