The so‑called “Higher Planning Council” of the Israeli military’s “Civil Administration” approved on Wednesday a new package of colonial construction plans, including 576 additional colonial units across several illegal colonies in the occupied West Bank, and a 1,000‑square‑meter building in the heart of Hebron to serve as a Torah‑teaching institute.
Among the plans approved are 456 colonial housing units in the illegal colony of Mitzpe Yeriho on lands belonging to the Jericho district, and 120 units in the illegal colony of Karnei Shomron in the northern West Bank.
Israeli Finance Minister and minister in charge of settlement affairs, Bezalel Smotrich, celebrated the approvals, stating that Israel is “bringing thousands of new residents to Mitzpe Yericho” and establishing a new building for the Shavei Hebron Torah institute in Hebron.
He described the move as one that “cements our control over the land and establishes clear facts that prevent the creation of an ‘Arab terror state in the heart of the country.’”
Smotrich added in a statement that “yesterday we canceled the Hebron agreements,” referring to the council’s approval of a measure stripping the Hebron Municipality of its planning and construction authority.
Several months earlier, the Israeli cabinet had already endorsed this step based on a proposal by Smotrich, transferring all planning authority in the Ibrahimi Mosque area from the Hebron Municipality to Israeli occupation authorities.
All of Israel’s colonies in the occupied West Bank, including those in and around occupied East Jerusalem, are illegal under International Law, the Fourth Geneva Convention in addition to various United Nations and Security Council resolutions. They also constitute war crimes under International Law.
Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits collective punishment and acts of terror against civilian populations.
Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states: “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” It also prohibits the “individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory”.
Articles 53 and 147, prohibit the destruction of civilian property and classify pillage as a war crime.
