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Growing Worries of Israeli Annexation

November 28, 2018 | Expert Insights

According to a UN envoy, Israel’s new settlement in Hebron has been seen as a reaffirmation of Israel's intent to remain permanently in occupied West Bank.

Background

Hebron, located in the occupied West Bank, is home to around 200,000 Palestinians and 800 settlers living under Israeli army protection in several heavily fortified compounds in the heart of the city. The city is holy to both Muslims and Jews, with important religious figures including Abraham, seen as the forefather of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, believed to be buried there.

The area was seized in the 1980s by the Israeli army, which built a military base on it to protect Hebron's Jewish settlers. The settlers and about 30,000 Palestinians living adjacent to them fall under Israeli military rule. Settlement plans in the West Bank have increased since the beginning of 2017.

According to Palestinian figures, more than 700,000 Jewish settlers now live on 196 settlements (built with Israeli government approval) and more than 200 settler outposts (built without its approval) across the occupied West Bank.

International law views the West Bank and East Jerusalem as occupied territories and considers all Jewish settlements on the land to be illegal. They are also viewed as major obstacles in peace efforts as they are built on land the Palestinians want for their future state. 31 more settler homes are to be built in the flashpoint city of Hebron, which will be the first Jewish settlement expansion in the city since 2002. It comes at a cost of $6.1m in government funding.

 

Analysis

 

A UN human rights expert said it was time for the international community to take firm action to stop Israel’s annexation of large parts of the West Bank through settlement expansion and legislative initiatives, warning that failure to do so will likely prompt Israel to formalise annexation into domestic law.

 

“During five decades of the occupation, Israel has steadily entrenched its sovereign footprint throughout the West Bank,” the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory said. Michael Lynk, in a report to the UN General Assembly, highlighted settlement construction and expansion, as well as recent legislative measures he said amounted to illegal de facto annexation.

 

“The Israeli Knesset has adopted a number of laws in the past year that has become a flashing green light for more formal annexation steps,” he said, noting recent measures that sought to apply Israeli law to the West Bank, as well as the 2017 settlement regularisation law. “The strict prohibition against annexation in international law applies not only to a formal declaration but also to those acts of territorial appropriation by Israel that have been a cumulative part of its efforts to stake a future claim of formal sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territory.”

 

“A deep-rooted problem at the heart of this conflict has not been lack of clarity of international law – in fact, it is quite clear, but the unwillingness of the international community to enforce what it has proclaimed” he pointed out.

 

Describing the human rights situation in Gaza as dire, the Special Rapporteur highlighted the continued economic and humanitarian deterioration and ongoing demonstrations in which more than 200 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli security forces.

 

Counterpoint

 

The then Defence Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, said in a statement that the project will support the Jewish community of Hebron. “We approved a municipal symbol for the Jewish community and the establishment of 31 housing units and a kindergarten in the Hezekiyah Quarter. We will now plan [to construct] another apartment building in the market area. We have continued the momentum of Jewish development in Hebron in a way that has not been seen in 20 years,” he added.

 

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked said the announcement of the marketplace project was a gift to the Jewish community. The project marks a “significant breakthrough” in the restoration of Jewish lands that were stolen during the 1929 riots, Shaked said. For 25 years, it has not been possible to settle the area, even though it is the heart of Hebron and belongs to Jews, Shaked added.

 

Assessment

 

Our assessment is that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is likely to ensure the expansion of Israeli settlements in Hebron as it would help boost his rating with right-wing voters. We believe that whether Netanyahu heads to early elections or holds onto his coalition, he will have lost points among right-wing voters both for his Gaza restraint and his delay in the demolition of the illegal West Bank Bedouin herding village of Khan al-Ahmar and will be keen to regain their favour.