{"id":315316,"date":"2026-02-18T12:17:51","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T17:17:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?post_type=document&p=315316"},"modified":"2026-02-18T12:18:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T17:18:06","slug":"special-rapporteur-condemns-israeli-attempts-to-further-annex-west-bank","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/special-rapporteur-condemns-israeli-attempts-to-further-annex-west-bank\/","title":{"rendered":"Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese condemns Israeli attempts to further annex West Bank"},"content":{"rendered":"

18 February 2026<\/p>\n

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GENEVA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 The decision by Israel\u2019s security cabinet to expand land expropriation in the occupied West Bank will consolidate annexation, may amount to aggression under international law and will further entrench an occupation ruled illegal by the world\u2019s highest court, a UN expert warned today.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese measures are not routine administrative adjustments. They are deliberate, incremental steps toward permanent annexation, advanced piece by piece, in broad daylight, and with total impunity,\u201d said Francesca Albanese, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967. \u201cThey will only deepen and entrench an occupation that the world\u2019s highest court has\u00a0determined<\/a>\u00a0to be unlawful, further eroding the rights of Palestinians.\u201d<\/p>\n

On 8 February 2026, the Israeli security cabinet ratified measures facilitating expanded land registration and property acquisition in the occupied territory. The changes make it easier for Israeli nationals and foreigners to acquire property in settlements, accelerating territorial conquest. By opening land registries to public claims, Palestinian landowners are rendered increasingly vulnerable to pressure, dispossession, and coercive transfer.<\/p>\n

Albanese warned that the annexation of occupied territory is categorically prohibited under international law, and violates Article 2(4) of the UN Charter, the Fourth Geneva Convention, and the foundational principle that territory may not be acquired by force. This may also entail liability for foreigners participating in such an overtly unlawful activity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis rule, that is the foundation of the post-1945 world order, has been repeatedly reaffirmed by the Security Council, the General Assembly, and the International Court of Justice. And yet Israel continues to defy it,\u201d the expert said.<\/p>\n

In its\u00a0July 2024 Advisory Opinion<\/a>, the ICJ confirmed that Israel\u2019s settlement policy is irredeemably illegal and clarified the obligation of all States not to recognise as lawful the illegal situation arising from Israel\u2019s conduct, nor to render aid or assistance in maintaining it.<\/p>\n

Albanese said the new measures must be understood within that legal context.<\/p>\n

Settlement expansion constitutes a transfer of the occupier\u2019s civilian population into occupied territory, prohibited under Article 49(6) of the Fourth Geneva Convention and criminalised under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Legislative facilitation of such transfer entrenches an ongoing serious breach and criminal responsibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe architects of the measures, including the Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich and the Minister of Defence Itamar Ben-Gvir, have openly and repeatedly stated that the objective is to accelerate settlement development for \u2018Jewish self-determination\u2019 only,\u201d the Special Rapporteur said. \u201cThis is not neutral governance. It is a criminal policy pursuing ethnic cleansing that must be halted immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n

The legislation expands Israeli administrative authority into Areas A and B, which under the Oslo framework were designated for Palestinian civil and security control. Extending Israeli enforcement and demolition powers into these areas directly encroaches on Palestinian governance. Combined with Israel\u2019s 2025 decision to take control of land registries in Area C\u2014reversing the planned transfer of authority to Palestinian institutions\u2014these measures undermine the territorial and administrative framework established by the Oslo Accords.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnnexation does not produce stability,\u201d Albanese said. \u201cIt produces systemic discrimination, dispossession, and permanent subjugation.\u201d<\/p>\n

She recalled that the ICJ has ruled that the prohibition of annexation and the right of peoples to self-determination are customary law from which no derogation is possible by any state. Breaches trigger obligations\u00a0erga omnes<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 owed to the international community as a whole \u2013 to intervene, stop and redress those breaches.<\/p>\n

\u201cStates must comply with their legal obligations: refrain from recognition, to withhold assistance, and to take effective measures to bring the unlawful occupation to an end,\u201d the Special Rapporteur said.<\/p>\n

\u201cStates must therefore cut diplomatic, economic, and military ties with a state that has chosen to commit international violations and crimes as policy. There is no other way to restore credibility in international law and the United Nations as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n

To learn more about Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council and the Question of Palestine, click here to visit the dedicated webpage.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Francesca Albanese<\/strong>\u00a0is the\u00a0Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967<\/a><\/p>\n

Special Rapporteurs\/Independent Experts\/Working Groups are independent human rights experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council. Together, these experts are referred to as the\u00a0Special Procedures<\/a>\u00a0of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. While the UN Human Rights office acts as the secretariat for Special Procedures, the experts serve in their individual capacity and are independent from\u202fany government or organization, including OHCHR and the UN. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the UN or OHCHR.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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