“The UN Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories” has condemned Israel’s persistence in its culture of impunity warning that such behavior undermines human rights.
This came in a recent statement released by the UN Special Committee following its annual visit to Amman Jordan which started on July 4 and lasted for four days.
During the four-day mission the Special Committee said its members met with high-level Palestinian government officials UN organizations and representatives of civil society organizations from the occupied Palestinian territory and the occupied Syrian Golan.
Furthermore the Special Committee visited UNRWA headquarters Marka refugee camp and interacted with Palestinian refugees.
“The Committee regrets that Israel did not respond to its request for consultations with Israeli authorities or for access to Israel the occupied Palestinian territory and the occupied Syrian Golan.”
“Israel’s persistent refusal to engage with the UN mechanisms mirrors a lack of accountability for Israeli conduct in the occupied Palestinian territory which was drawn to the Special Committee’s attention throughout the mission.”
“The protracted occupation and an entrenched culture of impunity severely undermine the prospect of Palestinians and Israelis enjoying human rights on an equal basis and living side by side in peace and dignity.”
The Special Committee also said that its “visit took place in the context of increasing settler violence and Israeli security force violence against Palestinians arbitrary arrests and detention and restrictions on the freedom of expression and movement as well as a deepening culture of impunity.”
The Special Committee added that it “was briefed that in the first half of 2022 Israeli forces killed 60 Palestinians in the West Bank in the context of law enforcement operations compared to 41 in the same period in 2021.”
The Special Committee also accused Israel of continuing to hold the bodies of 325 of those slain Palestinians thus preventing their families from burying them.
“Settler violence has continued to increase at an alarming rate. 575 incidents of settler violence resulting in Palestinian deaths injury and/or property damage were reported between 1 June 2021 and 31 May 2022 compared to 430 in the previous year. Perpetrators are very rarely held accountable. Gross violations of Palestinian human rights including the right to self-determination are the result of discriminatory and systematic policies and practices negatively impacting almost every aspect of Palestinian life” the Special Committee elaborated.
The Special Committee was also “extensively briefed on the widespread practice of administrative detention of Palestinians.”
“More than 800000 Palestinians have been subjected to this practice since 1967. Approximately 640 Palestinians including four children are currently held under indefinite administrative detention without charge or trial. A lack of respect for fair trial guarantees is a systemic concern in cases involving Palestinians including the regular admission of secret evidence in trial” its statement explained.
It was also “informed that torture and ill-treatment of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons remain widespread.”
“Some interrogation techniques which may amount to torture are allowed by Israel on the basis of ‘necessity’ which is incompatible with the absolute prohibition of torture under international law. The Special Committee was also informed that Palestinian detainees are often deprived of adequate health care as medical clinics within prisons lack appropriate medical equipment and treatment.”
“In the West Bank and east Jerusalem discriminatory planning and zoning laws and military orders are applied to justify aggressive expropriation of land for the purposes of expanding illegal Israeli settlements and military training areas. In Area C which comprises approximately 62 percent of land in the West Bank almost 30 percent is designated as closed ‘firing zones’ and Palestinian residents in those designated areas are at heightened risk of forced evictions and demolitions of their homes.”
The Special Committee has expressed particular concern over “ongoing demolitions of Palestinian structures and displacement of Palestinian residents in Masafer Yatta designated as ‘Firing Zone 918’ following a recent Israeli High Court decision permitting forced evictions of the residents to clear the area as a closed military training site.”
“About 1200 residents of Masafer Yatta face imminent risks of forced evictions and displacement. This constitutes the largest displacement of Palestinians since 1967 and may amount to forcible transfer which is a grave breach of international humanitarian law” the Special Committee underlined.
“Illegal Israeli settlements have also continued to expand resulting in demolitions of Palestinian-owned structures and displacement of the Palestinian residents notwithstanding UN Security Council resolution 2334 condemning such practices.”
The Special Committee asserted that “Israel has established or allowed the establishment of 279 settlements outposts or satellite neighborhoods in the West Bank facilitating settlement population growth to approximately 700000.”
“Israeli and international settler organizations actively promote settlements and recruit prospective settlers and are offered tax incentives. New settlement housing units continue to proliferate and in May 2022 Israeli authorities advanced plans for the construction of more than 4000 settlement housing units in Area C. The expansion of settlements has resulted in a commensurate increase in the demolition of Palestinian structures” the Special Committee said.
“Since the beginning of 2022 387 Palestinian structures including 68 donor-funded structures were demolished displacing 496 Palestinians. Only five percent of construction plans submitted by Palestinians in Area C are reportedly approved by the Israeli authorities.”
The Special Committee also learned that “in addition to settlement housing units private land owned by Palestinians is often seized for the purpose of building infrastructure such as roads highways and walls to connect settlements or creating natural reserves or national parks.”
“As reiterated by the Secretary-General the High Commissioner for Human Rights the Security Council and other UN bodies settlement activities are a flagrant violation of international law and must immediately cease.”
The Committee said it had dedicated a portion of its visit to UNRWA headquarters and the Marka refugee camp for Gazan refugees.
“Although UNRWA faces a dire financial situation and an almost USD 120 million program budget shortfall the agency continues to deliver above and beyond all expectations and is sustained by a dedicated and committed cadre of staff many of whom benefited from UNRWA’s relief social health and education services as children. UNRWA urgently requires predictable and sustainable funding in order to continue to fulfill its critical role for Palestine refugees and regional stability. Health and education services in particular are not sustainable on an ad hoc or emergency funding basis.”
“Israeli policies and practices also infringe upon the human rights of Palestinians to health safe drinking water sanitation and a healthy environment in a discriminatory manner” the Special Committee pointed out.
“For Gazans barriers restricting access to secondary and tertiary healthcare are extreme. Irrespective of medical need Gazan men aged 18-40 are much less likely to receive a permit to leave Gaza than any other demographic reflective of Israel’s prioritization of security policy over the Palestinian right to health. Palestinians only control approximately 20 percent of their water supply with the remainder purchased from Israel. Public demand consistently exceeds supply particularly during summer and over 90 percent of groundwater in Gaza is not suitable for human consumption.”
“In areas south of Hebron in the West Bank Palestinians reportedly survive on an average of less than 40 liters per person per day well below WHO minimum guidelines to achieve basic health and sanitation needs.”
The Committee was “also provided with photographic evidence of Israeli commercial agricultural industrial and chemical waste disposal on Palestinian agricultural land with grave implications for the right to a healthy environment.”
“Discrimination against Palestinians also manifests in the absence of accountability mechanisms. As highlighted by many interlocutors impunity remains pervasive in the occupied Palestinian territory as acts of killings torture ill-treatment or violence committed against Palestinians by Israeli security forces are rarely investigated or result in prosecution of the perpetrators” the Committee said.
“Palestinian children are routinely intimidated by Israeli security forces on the way to school and face physical access restrictions to their right to education despite the UN Secretary-General’s repeated calls on Israel to better protect schools as places of learning.”
“In the Gaza Strip 15 years of the land sea and air blockade and closures have effectively trapped 2.1 million Palestinians in what Gazan and international civil society organizations describe as an ‘open-air prison.’ The blockade and closures combined with the effects of the May 2021 conflict and the COVID-19 pandemic have continued to stifle the local economy constricting the livelihoods of the Gazan population.”
The Special Committee said it had “received mounting evidence of Israel’s discriminatory and inhumane laws policies and practices that violate Palestinians’ human dignity in every sense the essence of human rights to which all Palestinians are entitled.”
“By design Israel’s 55-year occupation of Palestine has been used as a vehicle to serve and protect the interest of a Jewish State and its Jewish people while subjugating Palestinians” it underscored.
“The Special Committee is cognizant that many stakeholders consider that this practice amounts to apartheid. This concern must be given serious consideration by the international community for it owes obligations erga omnes to prevent and end the most serious crimes under international law.”
“The Special Committee urges Member States to take principled steps towards ensuring that Israel’s occupation ends and Palestinians’ right of self-determination is realized.”
