Israeli officials approve West Bank land expropriation

“Israel’s confiscation of land, water, and other natural resources for the benefit of settlements and residents of Israel also violate the Hague Regulations of 1907, which prohibit an occupying power from expropriating the resources of occupied territory for its own benefit”, it says.

The settlements are considered illegal under global law and the PA says they are one of the major obstacles to reaching an eventual peace deal.

The appropriation, which Army Radio said would be announced shortly but was not immediately confirmed by the Israeli Defence Ministry which administers the West Bank, comes at a time of increased worldwide condemnation of settlement policy. The group urged the global community to “ensure that any import of settlement goods into their territory is consistent with their duty under worldwide humanitarian law not to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territories”.

The ambassador noted that Israel “must develop stronger, more credible responses to questions about the rule of law in the West Bank”. “We view Israeli settlement activity as illegitimate and counterproductive to the cause of peace”, said State Department Spokesman John Kirby in a daily press briefing.

Last year Netanyahu’s government reduced diplomatic contacts with European Union officials following a decision to recommend that member states label products produced in illegal Israeli settlements.

Titled “Occupation, Inc.: How Settlement Businesses Contribute to Israel’s Violations of Palestinian Rights”, the report suggests that by operating in Israeli settlements or by engaging with settlement businesses, companies are contributing to these human rights abuses. She challenged the worldwide community to hold Israel to account.

Netanyahu has described Shapiro’s comments as unacceptable and wrong, while justice minister Ayelet Shaked has suggested that they were inappropriate and that Shapiro should recant them. About 350,000 Palestinians live in East Jerusalem and 2.7 million in West Bank.

Israeli officals did not respond to requests for comment on the demolitions.

Israel is hoping that in any final agreement with the Palestinians it will be able to keep large settlement blocs including in the Jordan Valley, both for security and agricultural purposes.

The latest violence occurred early Wednesday, according to the army, when a suspected Palestinian gunman shot and lightly wounded an Israeli soldier in the Tulkarem area.

Since the start of October, Palestinian stabbings, car-rammings and shootings have killed 25 Israelis and a US citizen.

“As Ambassador Shapiro was wrongly castigating Israel on the world stage, Palestinian leaders were unabashedly praising the Dafna’s killers and further inciting Palestinians to continue the ‘Intifada of Knives, ‘” he wrote.