Israeli settlement

[69][74][75] In a government statement, Likud declared that the entire historic Land of Israel is the inalienable heritage of the Jewish people and that no part of the West Bank should be handed over to foreign rule.

[80] At the presentation of the Oslo II Accord on 5 October 1995 in the Knesset, PM Yitzhak Rabin expounded the Israeli settlement policy in connection with the permanent solution to the conflict.

While according to official Israeli policy no new settlements were built, at least some hundred unauthorized outposts were established since 2002 with state funding in the 60% of the West Bank that was not under Palestinian administrative control and the population growth of settlers did not diminish.

[87] The discussions at Camp David that year surrounding the idea of potential future Palestinian autonomy would trigger an increase in settlement expansion in the Gaza Strip, following the Israeli policy of establishing "facts on the ground".

[31] Based on various sources,[84][104][105][106][107][108][109][110] population dispersal can be estimated as follows: -4,400[112] In addition to internal migration, in large though declining numbers, the settlements absorb annually about 1000 new immigrants from outside Israel.

The American Kulanu organization works with such right-wing Israeli settler groups as Amishav and Shavei Israel to settle "lost" Jews of color in such areas where local Palestinians are being displaced.

[146][147][148] UN Security Council Resolution 446 refers to the Fourth Geneva Convention as the applicable international legal instrument, and calls upon Israel to desist from transferring its own population into the territories or changing their demographic makeup.

The reconvened Conference of the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions has declared the settlements illegal[149] as has the primary judicial organ of the UN, the International Court of Justice.

[172] Four prominent jurists cited the concept of the "sovereignty vacuum" in the immediate aftermath of the Six-Day War to describe the legal status of the West Bank and Gaza:[173] Yehuda Zvi Blum in 1968,[174] Elihu Lauterpacht in 1968,[175] Julius Stone in 1969[176] and 1981,[177] and Stephen M. Schwebel in 1970.

The following are Israel's primary issues of concern [i.e. with the rules of the ICC]: The inclusion of settlement activity as a "war crime" is a cynical attempt to abuse the Court for political ends.

[155] In 2006 Peace Now acquired a report, which it claims was leaked from the Israeli Government's Civil Administration, indicating that up to 40 percent of the land Israel plans to retain in the West Bank is privately owned by Palestinians.

[85][155] A secret database, drafted by a retired senior officer, Baruch Spiegel, on orders from former defense minister Shaul Mofaz, found that some settlements deemed legal by Israel were illegal outposts, and that large portions of Ofra, Elon Moreh and Beit El were built on private Palestinian land.

[199] Opponents of the settlements claim that "vacant" land belonged to Arabs who fled or collectively to an entire village, a practice that developed under Ottoman rule.

[215] In February 2020, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights published a list of 112 companies linked to activities related to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The 16 parks are located at Shaked, Beka'ot, Baran, Karnei Shomron, Emmanuel, Barkan, Ariel, Shilo, Halamish, Ma'ale Efraim, Sha'ar Binyamin, Atarot, Mishor Adumim, Gush Etzion, Kiryat Arba and Metarim (2001).

[218] In June 2022, Norway also stated that it would begin complying with EU regulation to label produce originating from Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Golan Heights as such.

The Bill made no further progress until 2024 when the then government sought legal advice from the Attorney General in response to the International Court of Justice's ruling on Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories.

[228] Following the Attorney General's advice the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheál Martin confirmed on 22 October 2024 that the Bill would be "reviewed and amendments prepared in order to bring in into line with the Constitution and EU Law".

[237] Due to the availability of jobs offering twice the prevailing salary of the West Bank (as of August 2013[update]), as well as high unemployment, tens of thousands of Palestinians work in Israeli settlements.

[258] In November 2011, the United Nations Office for Coordination of Human Affairs (OCHA) in the Palestinian territories published a report on settler violence that showed a significant rise compared to 2009 and 2010.

[271][272] Foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said the report ignored official PA data showing that the economic situation of Palestinians had improved substantially, citing Mahmoud Abbas's comment to The Washington Post in May 2009, where he said "in the West Bank, we have a good reality, the people are living a normal life.

These groups, according to Human Rights Watch, assert that settlers are "legitimate targets" that have "forfeited their civilian status by residing in settlements that are illegal under international humanitarian law.

[287][288][289] In 2008, Avshalom Peled, head of the Israel Police's Hebron district, called "left-wing" activity in the city dangerous and provocative, and accused activists of antagonizing the settlers in the hope of getting a reaction.

[324] After the redeployment of Israeli troops to the Gaza border, 30% of the greenhouses suffered various degrees of damage due to Palestinian looters stealing, for example, hoses and irrigation equipment.

"[261] In the framework of the Oslo I Accord of 1993 between the Israeli government and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), a modus vivendi was reached whereby both parties agreed to postpone a final solution on the destination of the settlements to the permanent status negotiations (Article V.3).

'[337] Final status proposals have called for retaining long-established communities along the Green Line and transferring the same amount of land in Israel to the Palestinian state.

"[343] In March 2010, the Netanyahu government announced plans for building 1,600 housing units in Ramat Shlomo across the Green Line in East Jerusalem during U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Israel causing a diplomatic row.

[344] On 6 September 2010, Jordanian King Abdullah II and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that Israel would need to withdraw from all of the lands occupied in 1967 in order to achieve peace with the Palestinians.

[359][better source needed] A number of proposals for the granting of Palestinian citizenship or residential permits to Jewish settlers in return for the removal of Israeli military installations from the West Bank have been fielded by such individuals[361] as Arafat,[362] Ibrahim Sarsur[363] and Ahmed Qurei.

[366] The idea has been expressed by both advocates of the two-state solution[327] and supporters of the settlers and conservative or fundamentalist currents in Israeli Judaism[328] that, while objecting to any withdrawal, claim stronger links to the land than to the State of Israel.