Israeli Supreme Court strikes down law allowing Israel to expropriate private West Bank Palestinian lands for settlements

10/06/2020

Adalah, JLAC, and Al Mezan petitioned against 2017 law; Adalah: This is significant achievement against Israel's threatened impending annexation of parts of West Bank; nothing justifies war crimes.

The Israeli Supreme Court issued a decision on Tuesday evening, 9 June 2020, striking down the Settlements Regularization Law which had allow Israel to expropriate private Palestinian land in the West Bank and to “regularize” or “legalize” the Israeli settlements built on it under Israeli domestic law.

On 6 February 2017, the Israeli Knesset enacted the "Settlements Regularization Law for Judea and Samaria [the West Bank]", and just two days later attorneys Suhad Bishara and Myssana Morany from Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, attorney Suleiman Shaheen of the Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center (JLAC), Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, and 17 Palestinian local authorities in the West Bank petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court against the law.

Adalah issued a response to the Israeli Supreme Court ruling on 9 June 2020:

"This is a significant achievement against Israel's threatened impending annexation of parts of the West Bank. The Supreme Court decision stresses that the Knesset cannot legislate laws that violate international humanitarian law. There exist no circumstances that justify the commission of war crimes – including the transfer of Israeli civilians to occupied Palestinian territory while stealing Palestinian land."

JLAC also issued a response to the Israeli Supreme Court ruling on 9 June 2020:

"The challenge now is to follow up on the demolition of Israeli settlement construction built on private Palestinian land and ensure that these lands are returned to their owners – an undertaking that the Israeli state and military will make all efforts to block."