UN: Israel must withdraw all West Bank settlers

Source :   Al Akhbar English

United Nations human rights investigators called on Israel Thursday to halt settlement expansion “without preconditions” and withdraw all Jewish settlers from the occupied West Bank, saying that its practices violated international law.

"Israel must, in compliance with article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, cease all settlement activities without preconditions. It must immediately initiate a process of withdrawal of all settlers from the OPT (occupied Palestinian territories)," said a report by the inquiry led by French judge Christine Chanet.

The settlements contravene the 1949 Geneva Conventions forbidding the transfer of civilian populations into occupied territory, which could amount to war crimes that fall under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC), it said.

Israel's foreign ministry called the report "biased," saying it would hamper alleged peace efforts between Israel and Palestine.

"The Human Rights Council has sadly distinguished itself by its systematically one-sided and biased approach towards Israel. This latest report is yet another unfortunate reminder of that," said spokesman Yigal Palmor in a statement.

Israel boycotted a routine review of its human rights situation by the United Nations Tuesday, making it the only UN member state to ever boycott the UN Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) periodic review since the process’ inception in 2006.

UNHRC spokesman Rolando Gomez had warned that “if a delegation from the country was not to attend then action, as yet unspecified, would be taken.”

Israel’s intransigence with the UNHRC could set a precedent for other countries unwilling to respond to accusations of human rights violations.

In December, the Palestinians accused Israel in a letter to the United Nations of planning to commit further "war crimes" by expanding Jewish settlements after the Palestinians won de facto UN recognition of statehood and warned that Israel must be held accountable.

Israel severed ties with the UNHRC last March over a planned fact- finding mission on illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The independent UN investigators interviewed more than 50 people who came to Jordan in November to testify about confiscated land, damage to their livelihoods including olive trees, and violence by Jewish settlers, according to the report.

"The mission believes that the motivation behind this violence and the intimidation against the Palestinians as well as their properties is to drive the local populations away from their lands and allow the settlements to expand," it said.

About 250 settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have been established since 1967 and they hold an estimated 520,000 settlers, according to the UN report. The settlements impede Palestinian access to water resources and agricultural lands, it said.