Israel godkänner 19 nya bosättningar på Västbanken

Israeli settlements in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (former), as well as in the Syrian Golan Heights, are illegal under international law. These settlements are in violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and in breach of international declarations. In a 2024 advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) relating to the Palestinian territories, the court reaffirmed the illegality of the settlements and called on Israel to end its occupation, cease its settlement activity, and evacuate all its settlers. The United Nations Security Council, the United Nations General Assembly, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Court of Justice and the High Contracting Parties to the Convention have all affirmed that the Fourth Geneva Convention applies to the Israeli-occupied territories. Numerous UN resolutions and prevailing international opinion hold that Israeli settlements are a violation of international law, including UN Security Council resolutions 446 in 1979, 478 in 1980, and 2334 in 2016. In 2014, 126 Representatives at the reconvened Conference of the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions declared the settlements illegal, as well as the International Committee of the Red Cross. Israel disputes the illegality of its settlements, claiming that Israeli citizens were neither deported nor transferred to the territories, that the territory is not occupied since there had been no internationally recognized legal sovereign prior, and that the Fourth Geneva Convention does not de jure apply. However, all of Israel's arguments have been refuted by the ICJ's 2024 advisory opinion. Furthermore, the Supreme Court of Israel has repeatedly ruled that international law applies to Israel's presence in the West Bank. The establishment of settlements has been described by some legal experts as a war crime according to the Rome Statute (to which Israel is not a party), and is currently under investigation as part of the International Criminal Court investigation in Palestine.