The ICJ today called on the UN Human Rights Council to mobilize to ensure accountability for war crimes and human rights violations committed as a result of Israel’s annexation of the West Bank and its apartheid system in the OPT.
The ICJ was not able to read the statement during the Panel discussion due to the limited time provided for NGO statements.
The statement reads as follows:
“Madam President,
Despite the international community’s repeated condemnations, Israel has continued unabatedly to expand its settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and to transfer its own population there.
Israeli settlements have given rise to what the Special Rapporteur defined as “de facto annexation” of the West Bank, likely followed by de jure annexation, as the Israeli Government announced in 2020, both in outright violation of international law.
Indeed, Israeli settlements constitute grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention and war crimes under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Palestinian, Israeli and international NGOs have also documented how Israeli settlements are an integral component of an apartheid system imposed by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
The ICC has jurisdiction over such crimes, and the newly established Commission of Inquiry has a mandate to investigate all violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law committed in the OPT and Israel.
Madam President,
How do you intend to mobilize this Council’s Member States in support of ongoing efforts and existing mechanisms aimed at ensuring accountability for the war crimes and human rights violations committed as a result of Israel’s annexation of the West Bank and its apartheid system in the OPT?
Thank you.”
Contact:
Massimo Frigo, ICJ UN Representative, e: massimo.frigo(a)icj.org, t: +41797499949