B’Tselem: `“Settlements are illegal, violate international law`

The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, B’Tselem, reported that settlements installed by Israel in the occupied West Bank are considered illegal and violate the International Law.

“The settlements that Israel established in the Occupied Territories are illegal and a direct breach to the international humanitarian law”, B’Tselem reported, “Therefore, an act intended to perpetuate the settlements is by definition, a breach of international law”.

The center reported that the presence of settlements is considered a continuous violation, not a violation which was carried out in the past and ended, “The Israeli attempts to legitimize the presence of settlements in the west Bank is a violation to the International Law, since settlements involve forbidden acts, such as destruction of property and annexation”.

Also, the report published by the center reads that the Separation Wall route was planned in a way which enables the expansion of settlements and creating geographical contiguity between the settlements and Israel, by blocking the geographical contiguity of the Palestinian territories.

“The severity of the action is aggravated insofar as the primary goal in setting the Barrier’s route – expanding settlements and protecting the economic interests of Israeli real-estate developers – is itself illegal”, B’Tselem.

“Moving settlers to the occupied territories is a direct violation to the Fourth Geneva Convention”.