Brussels – Israel, backed by the United States, continues its policy of forced occupation of Palestinian territories. The crackdown launched in recent days by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government risks leading to a de facto annexation of the West Bank. The international community looks on in astonishment and condemns, but remains immobile: 85 UN countries, together with the European Union and the Arab League, have issued a joint statement in which they affirm that “such decisions are contrary to Israel’s obligations under international law and must be immediately reversed.”
A harsh statement, and certainly not the first. What is lacking, once again, is the political will—on the part of both Western and Arab countries—to follow up on repeated condemnations of violations of international law committed by the Jewish state against the Palestinian people. The economic sanctions proposed by the European Commission were quickly shelved as soon as the ceasefire in Gaza was reached. Yet the EU, together with the other signatories, “strongly condemns Israel’s unilateral decisions and measures aimed at expanding Israel’s illegal presence in the West Bank,” the statement reads. It adds: “We underline in this regard our strong opposition to any form of annexation.”
In a matter of days, the Israeli government’s security cabinet first approved several measures to facilitate the acquisition of Palestinian land by settlers and to allow the army to conduct control and demolition operations in areas administered by the Palestinian National Authority. Then, last Sunday, it began the process of registering land in the West Bank as “state property”. This is in defiance of the 1993 Oslo Accords, multiple UN resolutions that restore Israel’s legitimate borders to those of 1967, and, most recently, the agreement to resolve the conflict in Gaza, which provides a new horizon for the two-state solution.
Not counting East Jerusalem, approximately three million Palestinians live in the West Bank, alongside more than 700,000 Israelis living in settlements or outposts that are illegal under international law. “We reiterate our rejection of all measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem,” the 85 signatories insisted. This is because “such measures violate international law, undermine ongoing efforts for peace and stability in the region, run counter to the Comprehensive Plan, and jeopardise the prospect of reaching a peace agreement ending the conflict.”
The statement was also signed by China and Russia, while the United States was absent. In addition to the European Union, 22 of the 27 member states joined in the condemnation. The five absent countries were Hungary, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
