All articles tagged with #israeli settlements
Christmas was celebrated in Bethlehem after a two-year hiatus, but festivities were limited due to Israeli military checkpoints and ongoing conflict in the West Bank, where Palestinians face displacement, home demolitions, and violence amid increased settlement expansion and political tensions.
Israeli settlers in the West Bank have escalated arson and violence against Palestinians, targeting farms, warehouses, and villages amid a surge in attacks during the olive harvest season, with international concerns over increased violence and settlement expansion.
The UN has added nearly 70 companies from 11 countries to its blacklist for allegedly supporting Israeli settlements in the West Bank, highlighting concerns over human rights violations and international law. The list now includes 158 companies, mostly Israeli, with some from the US, Europe, and China, and aims to name and shame firms linked to settlement activities. Israel strongly rejects the list, calling it unjustified, amid ongoing tensions over settlement expansion and potential annexation plans.
The UN Human Rights Office updated its database to include 158 companies involved in activities related to illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, emphasizing the need for corporate accountability and state diligence to prevent human rights abuses.
The UN has added nearly 70 companies to its blacklist for allegedly supporting Israeli settlements in the West Bank, highlighting concerns over human rights violations and international law. The list now includes 158 companies from various countries, mainly involved in construction, real estate, and related sectors, with some companies removed and others added. The move aims to pressure businesses and governments to prevent complicity in rights abuses amid ongoing Israeli-Palestinian tensions.
Several Western countries are set to recognize a Palestinian state, marking a symbolic milestone, but the reality on the ground—Israeli settlements, military occupation, and internal Palestinian issues—makes the establishment of a viable Palestinian state unlikely in the near term. The recognition could have legal and diplomatic implications, but significant obstacles remain, including Israeli policies and Palestinian governance challenges.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio inaugurated a controversial archaeological site in East Jerusalem, operated by Israeli settlers, amid protests from Palestinian residents and rights groups who see it as a symbol of Israeli settlement expansion and a challenge to international law and Palestinian rights.
The U.N. human rights chief reported a record expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, warning that it could eliminate the possibility of a viable Palestinian state. The report documented a surge in Israeli housing units and a rise in violence against Palestinians, with over 400 Palestinians killed since deadly Hamas attacks in October. The U.S. Biden administration has deemed the settlements "inconsistent" with international law, while Israel asserts a biblical birthright to the land. The report will be presented to the Human Rights Council in late March.
The U.N. human rights office has released a report stating that the establishment and expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem amount to a war crime under international law, with roughly 24,300 housing units in existing settlements advanced in the past year. The report highlights an increase in settler violence and settlement-related violations, risking the possibility of establishing a viable Palestinian state. Israel's diplomatic mission in Geneva criticized the report, while much of the international community considers the settlements to be illegal under international law.
The U.N. human rights office has released a report stating that the establishment and expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem amount to a war crime under international law, with roughly 24,300 housing units in existing settlements advanced in the past year. The report deplores an increase in the building of new settlement homes and warns that settler violence and settlement-related violations are reaching shocking new levels, risking the practical possibility of establishing a viable Palestinian state. Israel's diplomatic mission in Geneva criticized the report for overlooking violence by Palestinian extremists against Israelis, while much of the international community considers the settlements to be illegal under international law.
The Biden administration has reversed the Trump administration's policy on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, declaring them "inconsistent with international law." This decision comes in response to reports of planned settlement expansion by the far-right Israeli government and is part of a series of measures expressing the administration's growing discomfort with Israeli actions in Gaza and the West Bank. The move aligns the U.S. with previous administrations and returns policy to where it had been since 1978, reaffirming the position that Israeli settlements on occupied territory are illegal.
The Biden administration has reinstated a nearly 50-year-old U.S. legal finding that deems Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories as "illegitimate" under international law, reversing the previous determination made by Mike Pompeo. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed disappointment over Israel's plan to build more than 3,300 new homes in West Bank settlements, emphasizing the U.S. opposition to settlement expansion and its commitment to abiding by the Carter administration-era legal finding. This move comes amid growing U.S.-Israeli tensions and as the International Court of Justice holds hearings into the legality of the Israeli occupation.
The Biden administration has reinstated a nearly 50-year-old U.S. legal finding that deems Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories as "illegitimate" under international law, reversing a determination made by former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. This move comes amid growing U.S.-Israeli tensions over the war in Gaza and a recent announcement of new settlement construction, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressing disappointment and reiterating the U.S. opposition to settlement expansion, citing its inconsistency with international law and hindrance to achieving lasting peace.
Survivors of the deadly Hamas attack on Kibbutz Be'eri, one of the wealthiest Israeli settlements near the Gaza border, have chosen not to return due to fear of further attacks and the constant reminder of war. The community still bears the scars of the massacre, with homes left abandoned and destroyed. The attack, which killed over 1,200 civilians, including women and children, has left the survivors traumatized and unwilling to go back to their once thriving settlement.
President Joe Biden signed an executive order granting the Treasury Department the power to issue sanctions against Israelis complicit in the illegal settlement movement in the West Bank, citing "intolerable levels" of extremist settler violence, forced displacement, and property destruction. The order aims to address the threat posed by the situation in the West Bank and Gaza, and comes amid pressure to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. The move has drawn support from Arab-American leaders but has also led to growing distrust and anger among some Democratic activists.