UN Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory: E1 settlement plan, another unlawful step to consolidate the annexation of the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem [EN,AR]

عربي

21 August 2025

Final approval by the Israeli Government of the so-called El settlement plan in occupied East Jerusalem represents another grave and unlawful step to consolidate annexation of the occupied West Bank, in violation of international law, which prohibits the acquisition of territory by force. Meanwhile, settlers and the Israeli security forces continue to attack Palestinians, ten of whom were killed in the context of settler attacks since the beginning of June.

The construction of settlements in the so-called El area, a nerve centre connecting the three major Palestinian cities of East Jerusalem, Ramallah and Bethlehem, as well as the north and south of the West Bank, will further compromise the viability of a Palestinian State. By dramatically restricting Palestinians’ ability to move within the occupied West Bank, it will have catastrophic effects on their enjoyment of fundamental rights to access health, education, employment, and maintain family and society connections. Palestinian herding and farming communities, who have been living in this area for decades, are at imminent risk of being forcibly displaced. Since the beginning of the year, 59 Israeli settler outposts have reportedly been established.

Israeli security forces continue to use unlawful force in a discriminatory manner to protect settlers attacking Palestinian communities. On 16 August, during a raid on Al Mughayyer, Ramallah, Israeli security forces shot in the back and killed an unarmed 18-year-old, Hamdan Mousa Abu Alia, following a settler attack which led to confrontations with Palestinians.

On 13 August, a settler, reportedly an Israeli soldier on leave, shot and killed an unarmed man, Thameen Khalil Reda Dawabsheh, during a confrontation between unarmed Palestinians and armed settlers preparing for the construction of an illegal outpost in Duma, Nablus. The day after the killing, the outpost was established, bringing to three the number of outposts now surrounding Duma. Israeli security forces claimed that, prior to the shooting, Palestinians had thrown stones at the settlers. On 15 August, they raided Duma and arrested five Palestinian men, who remain detained. No Israeli settlers have been arrested to date, further indicating discriminatory law enforcement practices against Palestinians and State complicity in settler violence.

The escalation of Israeli settler violence and harassment of Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank has forcibly displaced 2,700 Palestinians since 7 October 2023, according to OCHA, mostly from Area C.

The unlawful use of force by Israeli forces, along with the escalating settler violence and Israel’s failure to prevent and punish it effectively, contributes to the coercive environment against Palestinians.

As the ICJ ruled in its Advisory Opinion in July 2024, the transfer of Israeli settlers to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Israel’s maintenance of their presence, is in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Israel is under the obligation to cease immediately all new settlement activities, and to evacuate all settlers from the occupied Palestinian territory, as well as to prevent and punish attacks by settlers against the life or bodily integrity of Palestinians.