Immune to International Law: Israel’s Settlements’ Long Ignored Illegality

Occupation is defined by Article 42 in the Hague Regulations of 1907 as a territory “placed under the authority of the hostile army” [1]. The protections in the statutes are “derived from the notion that occupation is temporary, the core ideal of the law of occupation” [2]. The Palestinian people have been under Israel’s occupation since 1967, and after over 50 years of occupation, Israel can no longer be considered a temporary occupying power. The International Committee of the Red Cross states the occupying power “has a duty to ensure the protection, security, and welfare of the people living under occupation and to guarantee that they can live as normal a life as possible” [3]. However, the occupation that Israel imposes on the Palestinian people is anything but an assurance of protection and security. Not only does Israel continuously subject Palestinians to violations of their basic human rights and abuse their power as an occupying military force, but they also conspicuously break international law. However, these violations are no longer being ignored by the international community [4].

The evictions that recently happened in Sheikh Jarrah and captured the attention of many news outlets is not new to the Palestinians. East Jerusalem and the West Bank have seen the illegal displacements of Palestinians since the Six-Day War in 1967. Israel is currently being investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes; although Israel denies the claims of violating any international law, there are many governing statutes and bodies that disagree, three of which will be discussed in this article [5]. Israel is not a member of the ICC and contends that Palestinians are not qualified as a sovereign state and therefore do not have the right to join [6]. However, it is the international community’s obligation to the Palestinian people to investigate the humanitarian and war crimes that Israel has committed against Palestinians.

One of the many ways in which Israel breaks international law is the establishment of settlements in the West Bank. They are in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention along with other international laws and declarations; specifically, the Hague Regulations of 1907 and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which will be discussed further in this article. Three ways in which they violate these international declarations and laws include pillaging and destruction of property, destruction of humanitarian aid, the evacuation of occupied people and transferring of occupying power’s civilians.

The settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories explicitly pillage and destroy Palestinian properties. For example, in Sheikh Jarrah, the stealing of Palestinian homes is illegal under international law because settlers and Israeli authorities are stealing homes by force [7]. These actions are overt violations of the Hague Regulations of 1907, the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. In Article 47 of the Hague Regulations of 1907, it states that “pillage is formally forbidden” [8]. Similarly, Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states, “pillage is prohibited” and “reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited” [9]. Article 53 goes further to say, “Any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private persons or to the State, or to other public authorities, or to social or co-operative organizations is prohibited” [10]. Finally, according to Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, pillaging is considered a war crime [11]. Article 8 also says that “extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly” is a war crime [12]. Settlers claim they have the legal right to the land and properties based on an Israeli law that allows Jews to claim property “abandoned” during the 1948 Nakbah (literally “the disaster” in Arabic), like in Sheikh Jarrah. There is no equal law for Palestinians to reclaim their own land that they were forced to leave [13]. However, by these international statutes, this law is illegal and allows for the displacement and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.

In its government-warranted removal of Palestinian homes in order to build its own settlements, Israel has proven to obey neither the laws regarding pillaging nor those concerning the destruction of private property. The United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has reported on systematic demolition of civilian properties in the West Bank. The obliteration of Palestinian buildings is often by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) and settlers, who are politically motivated to attack [14]. Settlers have set Palestinian agricultural land on fire which leads to the loss of income and reduced access to services. Rosemary DiCarlo, the Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, has stressed that all settlements are illegal under international law [15]. In 2019, 620 structures were demolished, 12,500 pending demolition orders were placed against Palestinian properties [16]. Furthermore, The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported 340 attacks by Israelis, including settlers, resulting in damage to more than 6,200 fruit-bearing trees. The demolition of Palestinian properties and damage to fruit-bearing trees is an explicit violation of the destruction of private property and is not necessary for military action, making it a violation of international law.

On January 9, 2020, Israel’s Ministry of Defense announced the task force director for “illegal Palestinian construction” in Area C of the West Bank. In 2020, Israel destroyed 848 Palestinian residential and livelihood structures in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. 2020 marked a four-year high in demolitions and displacements of Palestinian people [17]. On just the 3rd of November, 2020, 76 structures were destroyed which was more demolitions in a day than any other single instance in the past decade. This included homes, animal shelters, latrines, and solar panels that were “essential to livelihoods, wellbeing and dignity of community members” [18]. The immense amount of destruction that the Israeli forces have caused is prohibited by the legal documents cited above, despite their claims that it is legal under Israeli law. The destruction of residential homes is “extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly,” a clear violation of the Rome Statute [19]. Even though Israel is not under the jurisdiction of the ICC, these atrocities cannot continue to occur under the International community's noses—they must be held accountable.

Israeli authorities said many of the demolished buildings lacked Israeli-issued permits, which are basically impossible for Palestinians to obtain [20]. Moreover, the law of occupation prohibits such destruction unless necessary for the military [21]. Not only are homes devastated by the Israeli forces, in 2020 an under-construction mosque was destroyed, violating Article 56 of the Hague Regulations of 1907. Article 56 prohibits the “wilful damage to institutions [dedicated to religion]” and states the destruction “should be made the subject of legal proceedings” [22]. These demolitions further extend to the destruction of humanitarian aid sent for the displaced Palestinian refugees.

Lynn Hastings, the Humanitarian Coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, visited Humsa AlBqai’a, a town in Palestine. She commented that “in accordance with Israel’s domestic legal process, the homes and belongings of the families living there were demolished or confiscated five times by the Israeli authorities since the beginning of February [2021]. Tents, food, water tanks and fodder for their livestock have all been confiscated” [23]. These belongings included donor-funded humanitarian aid shelters to house the displaced Palestinian families. So far, in 2021, 65 donor-funded structures have been demolished and confiscated in Humsa-Al Bqai’a [24]. In February 2021, in the West Bank, 77 humanitarian aid structures, including 47 EU-funded, were targeted by Israeli forces and settlers [25].

There was a “14% increase in targeting of [humanitarian aid] structures during January and February of 2021, compared with the 2020 montly average” and 2020 marked a four-year high in demolitions of donor-funded structures [26]. In October 2020 there was a donor-funded network that was removed by the Israeli forces and subsequently disrupted the water supply to over 1,000 people [27]. Yvonne Helle, Humanitarian Coordinator ad interim for the occupied Palestinian territory, stated, “their vulnerability is further compounded by the… ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.”

The demolition of any structures under occupation is against international law, and the destruction of humanitarian aid is further added as a violation of these laws and statutes. In the Fourth Geneva Convention, Article 59 states “if the whole or part of the population of an occupied territory is inadequately supplied, the Occupying Power shall agree to relief schemes on behalf of the said population, and shall facilitate them by all the means at its disposal” [28]. The Rome Statute goes further and states, in article 8, that the intentional attack against humanitarian assistance is considered a war crime [29].

There is a deep injustice in destroying the homes and lives of Palestinians, but it is even further a violation of their basic human rights to steal the aid that is sent to those who have lost their homes and livelihoods. It is hard to believe that there is a military justification to take away food, shelter, medical care, and water from those who have been uprooted from their homes. Many Palestinians became refugees in 1948, and since then, the destructions of homes for Israeli settlements has continued to displace the Palestinian people for 70 years.

In regards to individual or mass forcible transfers or evacuations during the occupation, article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states, individuals “shall be transferred back to their homes as soon as hostilities in the area in question have ceased.” Furthermore, “the occupying Power undertaking such transfers or evacuations shall ensure, to the greatest practicable extent, that proper accommodation is provided to receive the protected person, that the removals are effected in satisfactory conditions of hygiene, health, safety, and nutrition” [30]. Article 8 of the Rome Statute constitutes “the transfer, directly or indirectly, by the Occupying Power of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies” as a war crime, as well as, “the deportation or transfer of all or parts of the population of the occupied territory within or outside this territory” [31].

In 2019, the planning regime in the West Bank displaced 900 Palestinians after 620 structures were demolished [32]. In 2020, Israel displaced 996 people after tearing down 848 Palestinian structures [33]. Yvonne Helle stated, “demolitions are key means of creating an environment designed to coerce Palestinians to leave their homes” [34]. As Israel eats into the land that belongs to the Palestinian people, they deport the Palestinians to create new homes for Israelis. Then, they steal and destroy the humanitarian aid, so Palestinians are forced out of their homes to seek asylum elsewhere.

The Security Council has said on multiple occasions that Israeli settlements are a “flagrant violation under international law” and have “no legal validity” [35]. Michael Lynk, UN Special Rapporteur for the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory stated that while “Israeli settlements continue to devour the land that is meant for the independent Palestinian State, the international community observes, it sometimes objects, but it does not act.” In 2016, the UN Security Council demanded that Israel cease all settlements in Resolution 2334 [36]. However, no compliance steps have been taken.

Israel ratified the Geneva Conventions on July 6, 1951, and are therefore party to the resolutions that they violate [37]. They have not signed or ratified the 1907 Hague Regulations; however, the Israeli High Court has found that the treaty is part of “customary international law” and therefore compulsory on all states, even those that are not party to it [38]. Israel may not be a part of the ICC but, as ratifiers of the Geneva Conventions and as a nation-state, they, as occupiers of the Palestinian people, can no longer be immune to international law that is in place to protect all citizens, sovereign state or not [39].

References 

[1] Second International Peace Conference, The Hague conventions of 1899 (II) and 1907 (IV) respecting the laws and customs of war on land.

[2] Amnesty International, “Chapter 3: Israeli Settlements and International Law.”

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] BBC News, “Israel ‘will Not Co-Operate’ with ICC War Crimes Investigation.”

[6] State of Israel, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Office of the Legal Adviser, “The International Criminal Court’s Lack of Jurisdiction over the so-Called ‘Situation in Palestine.’”

[7] Ott and Mitchell, “Sheikh Jarrah: Why Palestinians Are Facing Possible Eviction in East Jerusalem.”

[8] Second International Peace Conference, The Hague conventions of 1899 (II) and 1907 (IV) respecting the laws and customs of war on land.

[9] International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (Fourth Geneva Convention).

[10] International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

[11] UN General Assembly, Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, 1998.

[12] Ibid.

[13] Ott and Mitchell, “Sheikh Jarrah: Why Palestinians Are Facing Possible Eviction in East Jerusalem.”

[14] United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), “Occupied Palestinian Territory: Destruction of Property.”

[15] Security Council, “Illegal Settlement Growth, Widespread Hopelessness Among Youth Eroding Middle East Peace Prospects, Under-Secretary-General Tells Security Council.”

[16] Security Council.

[17] United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), “Occupied Palestinian Territory: West Bank Demolitions and Displacement.”

[18] United Nations News, “Dozens Displaced in Largest Demolition in Years in the West Bank, Reports UN Relief Office.”

[19] UN General Assembly, Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, 1998.

[20] United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), “Occupied Palestinian Territory: Destruction of Property.”

[21] Amnesty International, “Amnesty International Report 2020/21: The State of the World’s Human Rights.”

[22] Second International Peace Conference, The Hague conventions of 1899 (II) and 1907 (IV) respecting the laws and customs of war on land.

[23] United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), “Occupied Palestinian Territory: Destruction of Property.”

[24] Ibid.

[25] United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), “Occupied Palestinian Territory: West Bank Demolitions and Displacement.”

[26] Ibid.

[27] Ibid.

[28] International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (Fourth Geneva Convention).

[29] UN General Assembly, Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, 1998.

[30] International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (Fourth Geneva Convention).

[31] UN General Assembly, Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, 1998.

[32] Security Council, “Illegal Settlement Growth, Widespread Hopelessness among Youth Eroding Middle East Peace Prospects, Under-Secretary-General Tells Security Council.”

[33] Amnesty International, “Amnesty International Report 2020/21: The State of the World’s Human Rights.”

[34] United Nations News, “Dozens Displaced in Largest Demolition in Years in the West Bank, Reports UN Relief Office.”

[35] UN News, “‘High Time for Accountability’, UN Expert Says as Israel Approves Highest Rate of Illegal Settlements.”

[36] Ibid.

[37] Human Rights Watch, “The Obligations of Israel and the Palestinian Authority Under International Law.”

[38] Ibid.

[39] Ibid.