GENEVA - 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 flagrant breach of the right to self-determination, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said today.
"This is yet another step by the Israeli authorities towards rendering a viable Palestinian state impossible, in violation of the Palestinian people's right to self-determination," the High Commissioner said.
"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. This will also further deprive Palestinians of their natural resources and restrict their enjoyment of other human rights."
On 8 February, the Israeli security cabinet approved a package of measures that would expand Israeli civilian authority in areas A and B of the West Bank. According to the Oslo Accords some of these powers fall under the competence of the Palestinian Authority. These measures would, in violation of the law of occupation, change the law to allow Israeli authorities and individuals to acquire land in these areas.
"This will further cement Israel's control and integration of the occupied West Bank into Israel, consolidating unlawful annexation," Türk said.
The Israeli decisions also strip the Palestinian Authority of its 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 violates the land rights of Palestinians, but also their cultural rights in respect of sites of particular significance," Türk said.
These measures come amid a wider context of increasing attacks by Israeli settlers and security forces against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, forcible transfers, evictions, home demolitions, land grabs, and movement restrictions, among other violations documented by UN Human Rights.
"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," the High Commissioner said.
"This is supported by rhetoric and actions by senior Israeli officials, and violates Israel's obligation as an occupying power to preserve the existing legal order and social fabric. These decisions must be overturned."
"The settlements must be evacuated. The occupation must end. Now."
