UN expert calls on countries to designate Israeli settlements as 'war crimes'

According to the UN investigator's report, there are now close to 300 Israeli settlements in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank, with more than 680,000 Israeli settlers.

A UN human rights investigator on Friday called on the countries to designate the Israeli settlements in east Jerusalem as “war crimes” under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Michael Lynk, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, told the Human Rights Council in Geneva that the Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem violate the absolute prohibition against transferring of its civilian population by an occupying power into occupied territory.

The Israeli settlement of Efrat (L) in the Gush Etzion settlement block as Bethlehem is seen in the background in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. (Reuters)

“For Israel, the settlements serve two related purposes. One is to guarantee that the occupied territory will remain under Israeli control in perpetuity. The second purpose is to ensure that there will never be a genuine Palestinian state,” said Lynk.

The session of the UN Human Rights Council addressed by Lynk was boycotted by Israel which does not recognise the investigator’s mandate or cooperate with him.

The region recently witnessed indiscriminate rocket firings from Gaza and retaliatory attacks from Israel that claimed many lives, including that of dozens of children, renewing the concern over Israeli occupation. According to the report, there are now close to 300 Israeli settlements in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank, with more than 680,000 Israeli settlers.

Lynk said Israeli settlements were “the engine of Israel’s 54-year-old occupation, the longest in the modern world.” “It is a tragic paradox that, while the Israeli settlements are clearly prohibited by international law, the international community has been remarkably reluctant to enforce its own laws,” he said.

The Special Rapporteur urged the international community to adopt a plan of action, which includes calling upon Israel to fully dismantle its settlements and ensuring full accountability of Israeli leaders who are “responsible for grave breaches of international law” in the occupied Palestinian territory.

“The time for criticism of the Israeli settlements has passed...a new approach grounded in international law is the only path to a just end to this perpetual occupation,” said Lynk.