Israel in blatant violation of UN Security Council demand to immediately halt settlement activities

The United Nations Security Council is slated to convene today, 19 June 2018, in New York with UN Special Coordinator on the Middle East Peace Process Nicolai Mladenov to discuss the Palestinian question and Israel's compliance with Resolution 2334. According to data compiled by Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, Israel is blatantly violating this resolution, which demands an immediate halt to all settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

With Resolution 2334, the UN Security Council:

“Reiterates its demand that Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and that it fully respect all of its legal obligations in this regard.”

Nevertheless, since the adoption of the resolution in December 2016, Israel has disregarded this demand and accelerated its settlement expansion plans on occupied Palestinian land.

In a submission to the members of the UN Security Council sent yesterday, 18 June 2018, Adalah revealed that Israel – flying in the face of the Security Council – has issued 43 commercial bids for new buildings in existing settlements, including 5,329 housing units and eight commercial and service areas since January 2017.

Just one month later, in February 2017, Israel announced that it will build an entirely new settlement in the West Bank of 5,500 additional housing units.

In addition, the Israeli Knesset continues to legislate new laws that de facto annex  settlements to Israel and allow for the confiscation of additional tracts of private Palestinian land.

Further, in its response to petitions to the Israeli Supreme Court against the most dangerous of these new laws, the Settlements Regularization Law (2017), the Israeli government expressed its official position that Israel is not bound by international law.

Adalah calls on the United Nations Security Council to:

1. Take concrete action to stop all settlement activity, including outpost authorization/construction, transfer of Israeli settlers, land confiscation, home demolition, and displacement of Palestinian civilians by the Israeli government;
2. Insist on full implementation of Resolution 2334 and hold the Israeli government accountable for settlement activity and measures that serve to undermine prospects of peace and a viable Palestinian state.
3. Maintain the well-established international legal position that all settlement and settlement-related activity in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem is illegal. This requires clear public condemnation of all new, recent settlement activity;
4. Ensure objective reporting on Israel’s settlement policy throughout the UN system, including by securing a commitment to written reports by the UN secretary general on the implementation of UNSC Resolution 2334;

CLICK HERE to read Adalah's submission to the UN Security Council

(Homepage photo by UN Photo/Joao Araujo Pinto)