The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) condemned on Wednesday the Israeli occupation authorities’ approval of 764 new colonial housing units and the unveiling of a plan to establish 17 additional illegal colonies across the occupied West Bank over the next five years.
The organization said the move is part of Israel’s broader annexation and expansion agenda aimed at entrenching control over Palestinian territory in defiance of international law.
The OIC stressed that Israel’s settlement policy constitutes a war crime under international humanitarian law and a blatant violation of United Nations resolutions, particularly Security Council Resolution 2334 (2016), which reaffirms the illegality of settlements in occupied Palestinian territory.
The organization also cited the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion, which underscores the prohibition of settlement activity and the obligation of states not to recognize or assist in maintaining such unlawful practices.
In its statement, the OIC renewed its call on the international community — especially the UN Security Council — to assume its responsibilities and take immediate, concrete measures to halt Israel’s colonial expansion and all violations committed against the Palestinian people, their land, and their holy sites.
The organization warned that continued inaction would embolden Israel to accelerate its attempts to alter the demographic and geographic reality of the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Rights groups and UN agencies have repeatedly documented the surge in colonialist activity, warning that Israel’s expansionist policies are designed to fragment Palestinian territory, undermine prospects for a two‑state solution, and entrench a system of dispossession and apartheid.
Analysts note that the latest approvals come amid heightened violence by illegal paramilitary Israeli colonizers against Palestinian communities, further deepening humanitarian and political crises across the occupied territories.
The OIC emphasized that the international community must move beyond statements of concern and adopt binding measures to ensure accountability, protect Palestinian rights, and preserve the possibility of a just and lasting peace.
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.
