Israel’s West Bank land grab 'will consolidate annexation', warns UN rapporteur Albanese

The UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories has cautioned that Israel’s decision to extend land expropriation in the occupied West Bank could solidify annexation, possibly constituting aggression under international law, and deepen what the world's highest court has classified as an illegal occupation.

Francesca Albanese was reacting to measures ratified by Israel’s so-called security cabinet on February 8 to facilitate greater land registration and property acquisition in the occupied area.

“These measures are not routine administrative adjustments. They are deliberate, incremental steps toward permanent annexation, advanced piece by piece, in broad daylight, and with total impunity,” Albanese said in a statement on Wednesday.

She warned that they would “deepen and entrench an occupation that the world’s highest court (International Court of Justice) has determined to be unlawful.”

The rapporteur indicated that the modifications facilitate property acquisition in settlements for both Israeli settlers and foreigners, hastening what she termed territorial conquest. She stated that making land registries accessible to the public claims makes Palestinian landowners more susceptible to pressure, dispossession, and forced transfer.

Albanese emphasized that the annexation of occupied land is explicitly forbidden by international law, referencing Article 2(4) of the UN Charter and the Fourth Geneva Convention.

She additionally mentioned the advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice in July 2024, which affirmed the unlawful nature of Israel’s settlement policy and specified that all nations should neither acknowledge nor support the situation.

“Annexation does not produce stability,” she said. “It produces systemic discrimination, dispossession, and permanent subjugation.”

She called on states to avoid recognition, withhold support, and implement effective measures to end the occupation.

Over 80 countries condemn Israel’s ‘unlawful’ settlement expansions in West Bank

More than 80 countries condemn Israel’s decision to expand illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank as “unlawful” and in violation of international law.

UN committee on Palestinian rights ‘strongly’ denounces Israeli measures

Meanwhile, the Bureau of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People on Wednesday “strongly” condemned Israel's land measures in the West Bank.

In a statement, the bureau said it “strongly condemns the decision by Israel, the occupying power, to resume land registration procedures in the occupied West Bank alongside countless other illegal policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East al-Quds.”

“Such illegal measures risk the further dispossession of Palestinian landowners and entrenchment of Israel’s unlawful control over occupied territory,” the statement said.

It stressed that “recent actions constitute a serious escalation that violates international law and relevant United Nations resolutions and must be condemned,” adding that “such so-called administrative measures cannot disguise what this is: the de facto annexation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”

The rights committee further noted that “the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East al-Quds, must not be subjected to any measures aimed at altering its legal status, demographic composition, or territorial integrity.”

“All such policies and measures are null and void and Israeli settlements and settlement-related policies in the occupied territory have no legal validity and are in grave breach of international law, as unequivocally reaffirmed by the International Court of Justice,” it said.

Calling on Israel to “immediately cease and reverse these measures,” the bureau also urged the international community “to take concrete steps to uphold accountability and protect the prospect of a just and lasting peace.”

Since the onset of its genocidal campaign in Gaza on October 8, 2023, Israel has escalated activities in the West Bank, particularly in East al-Quds. Palestinians perceive the escalation – including killings, abductions, displacement, and settlement growth – as a move toward official annexation of the land.

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