Occupied West Bank: Israel expansion against international law
Israeli army vehicles block a road during an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 14 March 2025. (EPA)
Israel has significantly expanded settlements in the occupied West Bank as part of what the UN has labelled a “breach of international law”. This comes after Israel was accused of carrying out “genocidal acts” against Palestinians in a United Nations report.
The statement, made on Tuesday, precedes a report to be presented to the UN Human Rights Council later this month, according to Asharq Al-Awsat.
The report is to be released due to growing fears of annexation amid US policy shifts under President Donald Trump and new settler outposts in areas of the West Bank seen as part of a future Palestinian state.
Accompanying the report, where urged the international community to take meaningful action on Israel’s advancing settlement in the West Bank, UN High Commissioner Volker Turk said in a statement, “The transfer by Israel of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies amounts to a war crime”.
He continued, “Israel must immediately and completely cease all settlement activities and evacuate all settlers, stop the forcible transfer of the Palestinian population, and prevent and punish attacks by its security forces and settlers”.
Israel disengaged from the UN Human Rights Council earlier this year, alleging a chronic anti-Israeli bias. Its military says it is conducting counter-terrorism operations in the West Bank and targeting suspected militants.
Asharq al-Awsat
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