Association for Defending Victims of Terrorism – The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights warned that the establishment and expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories constitutes a “war crime.” Israel accuses the Commission of “ignoring Israeli victims of Palestinian terrorism.”
On Friday (March 8, 2024), the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said in the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights that the continued construction and expansion of settlements “means Israel transferring its civilian population to the territories it occupies,” stressing that “the transfers This constitutes a war crime” under international law.
The report, which covers the period from November 1, 2022 to October 31, 2023, stressed that “transfers of this type constitute a war crime that entails individual criminal responsibility for the persons involved.”
The report said, “Settler violence and settlement-related violations have reached shocking new levels that could eliminate any practical possibility of establishing a viable Palestinian state.” On the other hand, Volker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement published on the occasion of the report’s release that “the information published this week indicates that Israel plans to build 3,476 additional homes for settlers in Maale Adumim, Efrat and Kedar, in violation of international law.” The statement added, “The size of the currently existing Israeli settlements expanded significantly during the period covered by the report.”
He pointed out that about 24,300 housing units were built inside Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank during this period, explaining that it is “the largest number recorded since monitoring began in 2017.” The document explained that this number includes “about 9,670 units in East Jerusalem.”
